HE IS ALTOGETHER LOVELY
Discovering Christ in The Song of Solomon
by Roger Ellsworth
"Song of Solomon is a book in the Old Testament of the bible. Roger Ellsworth follows a long line of teachers who have expounded this most beautiful of songs in such a way as to show the love that exists between the Lord and his people. Luther lectured on the Song showing how Solomon speaks for all his people who are the bride of the Lord. The Puritans found great spiritual benefit from it. In the foreword to George Burrowes' commentary on the Song of Songs, Dr Lloyd -Jones commends among other things the way in which the author helps Christians to appreciate the Song's spiritual treasures. Spurgeon loved to preach Christ from this book and Hudson Taylor's little study Union and Communion has become something of a classic."
These are the opening words in the Foreword to He is Altogether Lovely by Roger Ellsworth with the subtitle - Discovering Christ in The Song of Solomon. When I picked up this book last night to read it again I delved straight in and spent a couple of hours on the first 4 chapters but I had to stop because my heart was filled to overflowing. Yes there is such poetic language in this book but the reminders of Christ throughout each word make it a book to ponder and reflect upon. Much of what Roger writes was originally part of sermons to his church family so I have decided to treat each chapter as if I am hearing it in sermon form. I hope in that way I can understand more of the spiritual depth found in each verse that is expounded.
On the surface Song of Solomon seems to be nothing more than a celebration of romantic love between a king and a humble maiden - appropriate enough in its way, but what does it have to do with the Lord Jesus? The answer might seem to be a flat, "nothing" but then we remember that the Lord Jesus Christ himself has a bride he dearly loves - Ephesians 5 verse 25.
Christ explicitly claimed to be the subject of all the Old Testament
We have in the Song of Solomon the celebration of love between a man and his bride
The Lord Jesus has a bride
We may, therefore, legitimately take the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon as a picture of Christ and the bride as a picture of the church
In the Song of Solomon the descriptions of the bridegroom have obvious parallels in Christ. This book is a selection of those portions that most readily point us to Christ.
What is the purpose in reading this book? Remember the 2 disciples Jesus journeyed with on the road to Emmaus? Their hearts, they said "burned" within them as Christ explained to them "in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" - Luke 24 verse 27 and 32. Notice that little word "all"!
"It is the sight of Christ that makes the Christian's heart burn. And it is the burning heart that compels us to worship and that makes our worship exhilarating business. The heart aflame also fuels our proclamation of Christ and our service to him, and steels our resolve against the opposition and ridicule of a world that knows him not."
In the book of Song of Solomon there are 5 speakers - the Shulamite bride, the beloved groom, the daughters of Jerusalem, an unnamed relative of the bride and the brothers of the bride. The daughters of Jerusalem are the bride's attendants. They speak with a unified voice 4 times. The relative of the bride speaks only in chapter 8 verse 5 and her brothers speak only in chapter 8 verses 8 and 9. Most of the song consists of the Shulamite's words as she speaks to her beloved and his words as he responds to her.
CHAPTER 1 - THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST
"Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee." Song of Solomon 1 verse 3
In this verse explaining her love for Solomon, the Shulamite maiden admires his "good ointments". She liked the fragrances she could smell when she was with him. And when she was not with him, she enjoyed a different fragrance, the recollection of his name. It was as if someone had broken a jar of costly ointment and poured it out in her presence. His name which represented all that he was, gave her that much pleasure.
I immediately thought of Mary in John 12 and the sermon I heard on Sunday past in our church - remember how she came into the house and broke the jar of ointment over Jesus' head in preparation for his burial. Here is the link to that sermon ...
https://jacquiharbinson.blogspot.com/2025/06/extravagant-devotion.html
I don't believe that God speaks randomly - why else would I hear such a sermon and then read a book reflecting that same story? I needed to hear and be reminded of such extravagant devotion and the fragrance that poured forth yet again.
Song of Solomon 1 verse 3 reminds us of the fragrance of Christ.
The fragrance of Christ's person - remember the story of the wise men when they brought gifts to the baby Jesus in the manger in Matthew 2. Of the 3 gifts offered 2 were fragrances - frankincense and myrrh. In the Old Testament the word incense appears 100 times and in the New Testament it appears twice - Luke 1 and Revelation 8. It has to do with the service of God. Remember also how myrrh was used to prepare Jesus' body for burial in John 19.
Frankincense is associated with deity and myrrh with suffering humanity. Baby Jesus was none other than God in human flesh.
In Ephesians 5 verse 2 we as believers are told to "walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."
This reminds us of all the sacrificing of animals back in the Old Testament - beginning with God himself providing coats of skin for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When the Children of Israel came out of Egypt in the Exodus story we are told they were to offer a lamb without blemish. This idea of sacrificing continued in their long journey to and beyond Canaan. Animals cannot pay for the sins of people but they did picture the Lord Jesus who would one day come to make a perfect and effectual sacrifice for sin.
Jesus came to die in the place of sinners, to be the substitute for all those who believe, to suffer the penalty of death on their behalf, that they might receive eternal life. He could do this because he was fully man. God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit together devised the eternal plan of redemption before time began. It was the Father who sent the Son. It was God who caused Jesus to die on the cross. The Son's death was pleasing to the Father because it was an act of obedience to the Father's will and because it provided atonement for the people whom the Father loved and gave to Christ before the foundation of the world.
The idea of fragrance is also used by the apostle Paul in Corinthians. There Paul is defending and describing his ministry as an apostle and expresses his gratitude to God for diffusing "the fragrance of his knowledge in every place." Then he adds an explanation - "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one we are the savour of death unto death and to the other the savour of life unto life. " (2 Corinthians 2 verses 15 and 16)
The gospel message Paul had been told to preach is fragrant to God. The gospel is also fragrant to those in whose hearts it is working in. In the gospel message a person smells the fragrance of life but also death. To some who are spiritually blind they cannot see the need of a Saviour.
There are so many in Christ's church, his bride, that delights and pleases Jesus. They are his Father's gift to him. They are fragrant to Christ because they manifest the 9 graces called the fruits of the Spirit. And we are called to "continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God" which is "the fruit of our lips" - Hebrews 13 verse 15. Just as Christ's sacrifice of himself was fragrant to God, so is the Christians' living sacrifice pleasing to God. The offering of praise and worship to God and rendering of service for God are alike fragrant to him. It is our privilege and responsibility to see to it that we are offering up such sacrifices continually to God.
As we think about the fragrant ointments we have in Christ, it should be our desire to lavish the precious ointment of our own lives upon him, in worship and service, so that the fragrance will be known to all around us - "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5 verse 16
CHAPTER 2 - CHRIST PROCLAIMING HIS EXCELLENCE
"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." Song of Solomon 2 verse 1
In this verse King Solomon speaks of himself as "the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys". This was his way of proclaiming his own excellence! There can be little doubt about the way scripture relates these particular flowers to excellence and perfection. The rose of Sharon represents beauty and excellence in another passage from Isaiah:
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." Isaiah 35 verses 1 and 2
We don't actually know which modern flower corresponds to the rose mentioned here. Most commentators seem to favour the narcissus which grew in dazzling abundance on the plain of Sharon, a fertile tract on the Mediterranean coast.
The lily is also a symbol of elegance and beauty. A stately plant of 6 leaves and 6 petals, it grew to 4 feet or more in height and was often used for decorative purposes. Jesus even referred to the excellence of the lily in Matthew 6 verses 28 and 29 "Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
Solomon's kingdom was such that it was possible for him to speak in this way without being boastful or proud. Solomon represents Christ and this description was given to enable the church (the bride of Christ) to enable her to see her Lord. It is entirely appropriate for the Lord Jesus to proclaim his own excellence. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 12 verse 42 "A greater than Solomon is here".
Jesus claimed to be the one sent from heaven - John 3 verse 13, to have the power to give living water - John 4 verse 14 and to do the will of God perfectly - John 5 verses 19 and 30. The glorious excellence of Christ is an awesome thing because, in the first place, it takes a considerable variety of figures and expressions to give us even a faint glimpse of it. It is also awesome that Christ would condescend to proclaim his own excellence. Christ has come down from heaven to declare his own excellence!
We have a responsibility too - Sharon was the name of a plain that runs for 50 miles from modern Tel-Aviv to just south of Mount Carmel. This plain was covered with flowers that could easily be picked by anyone who happened to be walking along. Similarly the lilies that grew in the valleys were also easy to find and pick. Had these flowers been found only on the mountain-tops, it would have been difficult to find and pick them. But walking through a valley is easy. There are many beautiful things in this life that we cannot possess or enjoy, but anyone can pick a rose of lily growing by the way.
So it is with Christ. His excellence can be enjoyed by all who believe, because he has made himself accessible to us. He has stepped down from the mountain of his glory to the lowlands of our humiliation, the human condition in which we sinful people live. And there he has caused his excellence to bloom before our eyes. Now through the scriptures, he invites us personally to appropriate and enjoy his excellence. Possess the flowers of Christ's excellence, smell their fragrance, admire their beauty. This is what scripture urges us to do.
CHAPTER 3 - THE CHURCH PROCLAIMS HIM FLAWLESS
"What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." Song of Solomon 5 verses 9 to 16
These verses give us a picture of Christ. Here the bride gives a detailed description of the bridegroom, a picture which may be taken as the church speaking of her Lord. It starts with a question from the daughters of Jerusalem. The word "beloved" applies to an object or person upon which we bestow our highest love and fondest affection. The daughters of Jerusalem were asking why the bride set her affection upon her beloved. What was there about him that made him so special, that set him above all the other persons and objects on which she could have bestowed her most fervent love? The bride is eager to respond. She gives a very detailed description in these verses.
As God's children is it possible for us to so love Christ and as a result to live in a way that they arrest attention and arouse interest? Or can we live in such a way that we never stimulate others to think about their faith or provoke any consideration of it?
"be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3 verse 15
Do we live in such an arresting manner that people we would come into contact with frequently have to explain why Christ means so much to us?
This description consists of 2 major parts - it opens and closes with the phrases that may be considered general in nature - "white and ruddy", "chiefest among ten thousand" and "altogether lovely". In these verses the Shulamite proceeds to give a very detailed description of the various parts of her beloved's body. As the bride proclaimed the excellence of her beloved, so the church of Christ eagerly and readily proclaims the excellence of her Saviour.
One thing the church loves to focus on in these words is Christ's flawlessness. The words "white and ruddy" indicates that her beloved was perfect in beauty, he had no flaw or deficiency in his complexion. The phrase "altogether lovely" also means he was without defect, fault or blemish." Scripture boldly asserts that Christ was indeed perfect in beauty, without flaw, in every aspect of his person, life and ministry.
Some take the word "white" to represent his deity and "ruddy" or red to represent his human nature - flesh and blood.
"In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" Colossians 2 verse 9
His person is by its very nature incapable of imperfection. Remember Pontius Pilate who said of Jesus "I find no fault in him at all" (John 18 verse 38). In 1 Peter 1 verse 19 we read that Jesus was "a lamb without blemish and without spot." Only a perfect human being could act as the substitute and sacrifice for our sins.
There is also no flaw to be found in his teaching. The common people heard him gladly. His enemies tried to find fault with his teachings but each time they challenged him they were sent away bewildered and confused.
There was no flaw to be found in the work Jesus came to perform. He came to perform a specific task - the task of redemption. Jesus came to this earth to provide eternal salvation for all those who believe.
"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work" John 4 verse 34
"I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me." John 5 verse 30
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." John 6 verse 38
The cross was no afterthought with God and it did not take Jesus by surprise. His cry "It is finished" in John 19 verse 30 proves the cross was the plan of God all along.
And there is no flaw to be found in the salvation that he provided on that cross. It fully paid the price. It delivered his elect from eternal wrath. It sealed hell's door. It opened heaven's door. It purchased the gift of the Holy Spirit to call the sinner to Christ and to seal him until that grand, sparkling day when redemption will finally be complete.
By using the phrase "chief among ten thousand" the Shulamite was asserting that her beloved was without peer or rival. The phrase is borrowed from the battlefield and refers to a standard-bearer in an army. The standard was the rallying-point, that point to which all eyes turned. It towered above the soldiers' heads and was the centre of attraction.
The bride was suggesting, therefore that her beloved stood out from among men.
The flawlessness of Jesus means no one else is in the same class with him. He is not one flawless person among many. He alone is the flawless one.
CHAPTER 4 - THE CHURCH PROCLAIMS HIS BEAUTY
"His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars." Song of Solomon 5 verses 11 to 15
In the details of the bridegroom, the Shulamite praises the beauty of her beloved and with others his strength.
The golden head of Christ
The first description is of the head of her beloved - "his head is as the most fine gold". The Shulamite woman is telling us how admirable, precious and glorious is the beloved in her eyes. As we look upon Christ as he is revealed in the scriptures we can think of Ephesians 1 verses 21 to 23:
"Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
Later on Jesus is "the head of the church" (Ephesians 5 verse 23). The head represents rule or dominion. The gold represents excellence and glory. More specifically, we can say it represents beauty and durability. Jesus Christ has dominion, or rule, and that dominion is excellent, glorious, beautiful and eternal.
The Christian is one who is able to see through the raging sea of evil to a deeper reality, namely that the golden sceptre of Christ the king rules over all (Hebrews 1 verses 8 and 9). Not only does the Christian see the ruling hand of God, but he admires it and delights in it, as the Shulamite admired the beloved's head of gold.
God takes all the evil of this world and uses it and overrules it for his purposes and glory. Remember the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. She falsely accused him and he ended up in prison. It was evil that he was framed and imprisoned but God used all that evil to ensure that Joseph was in the right place at the right time. Later he was released from prison as a result of interpreting Pharaoh's dream. With perfect timing God raised him from the depths of that dark dungeon to a position of authority that was second only to Pharaoh's. Joseph told his brothers "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Genesis 50 verse 20).
"We know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8 verse 28
Throughout human history there have been many times when evil seemed out of God's control, when it was unleashed and threatened to overthrow the rule of Christ.
Adam and Eve were involved in the cataclysm of the Fall, yet God gave them the promise of a coming Saviour. They had 2 sons and the promise seemed sure but then one son killed the other. The promise was suddenly hanging by a thread, but God gave Adam and Eve another son and the promise was again secure.
Noah's generation was so wicked that it seemed that God's promises would finally be thwarted. But God spared Noah and his family and through them gave humanity a new start.
God chose Abraham to be the one from whom the Messiah would spring. But Abraham had no son and as he and his wife grew old, it once again looked as if God's purpose had come to a screeching halt. Yet, miraculously, God gave them a son in their old age.
The Messiah was to come from David's line, but the descendants of David dwindled to a solitary child and even his life was in imminent peril from the wicked Queen Athaliah. But God brought that young man to the throne.
Remember how God preserved the nation of Israel through the captivity and in the wilderness. When the Lord Jesus was finally born, Herod murdered all the young children in an attempt to kill him.
All these were instances in which is seemed that the sovereignty of God was lost, but each time God's purposes prevailed.
The evil of our day may seem unconquerable. The rule of Christ may appear at times to flag and fail. But that rule is like enduring gold. it is going to last!
"For his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation" Daniel 4 verse 34
As Gabriel pronounced to Mary, "He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Luke 1 verse 33
The eyes of Christ
"His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set."
By likening them to doves, the bride indicates the gentleness and sympathy of those eyes. By depicting them as doves bathing in the water, she indicates their clear, sparkling quality. It was that quality that caused her to go further and say his eyes were such that it was as if they had been washed in milk. When she compared her beloved's eyes to the skilful work of a jeweller, the bride was affirming their perfect beauty. They were perfectly set in their sockets, not protuding and not sunken. In Christ we find the perfect expression of tenderness and gentleness, the perfect expression of sparkling discernment, alertness and intelligence and perfect beauty.
What compassion and tenderness we find in the eyes of Jesus! Remember when a rich young man came running to Jesus and asked the way of eternal life - "Jesus looking at him, loved him ..." (Mark 10 verse 21) That same compassion was there when he looked upon a vast multitude and saw that they were "like sheep not having a shepherd". Mark tells us that the sight of that multitude caused the Lord's heart to be "moved with compassion" (Mark 6 verse 34). We are saved because those eyes saw us in our sin and guilt but looked upon us in compassion. Since that time he has watched over us with tender care.
The apostle John saw those eyes burning "like a flame of fire" Revelation 1 verse 14. Those same eyes will also burn with fierce wrath and condemnation towards those who trample the gospel of Christ under their feet.
Those same eyes that behold us with tenderness and compassion are also keen and discerning.
"The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry." Psalm 34 verse 15.
"He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous; but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted." Job 36 verse 7
The prophet Hanani adds these powerful words:
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars." 2 Chronicles 16 verse 9
Because Christ's eyes are upon us, nothing escapes their notice. Because they are tender and caring, they observe us for our good.
When the young woman thought about the tenderness and compassion of her beloved's eyes and the keen discernment of those eyes, she could not help but say they were beautiful to her, as beautiful as a gem skilfully placed by a jeweller. As the Christian reflects upon Christ's caring, discerning eyes, he has to say the same. The eyes of Christ are "fitly set". There is no flaw or deficiency in them.
The cheeks of Christ
"His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh."
The cheeks are receivers. They are passive. One implication of this when we apply it to Christ, is that he can and does receive affection from his people. As the cheeks are passive, so there was a passivity about our Lord. Nothing is more beautiful to the people of God than this particular passivity. The truth is, we are saved because of what the Lord received for us.
"I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting." Isaiah 50 verse 6
The body of Christ
"his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires"
This refers to the beautiful garment that Solomon wore. The single most impressive quality of this garment would have been its brightness. The whiteness of the garment itself would have made it bright and shining, so that carved and polished ivory would indeed have been a fitting symbol for the bride to use. This brightness would, however have been further enhanced by decoration with brilliant, blue sapphires. This sparkling, glistening brightness of his body made for a striking and impressive appearance, one that conveyed incredible glory and splendour.
Scripture constantly associates brightness with God and heaven but brightness, glory and splendour find their perfect expression in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus is "the brightness of God's glory" (Hebrews 1 verse 3). In the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus identifies himself as "the Bright and Morning Star" (Revelation 22 verse 16).
In other words, the brightness of the glory of God shone in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God" shines in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4 verse 6) The apostle John calls Jesus the Word of God and says of him "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1 verse 14)
As he and the other disciples closely observed and scrutinized the Lord they could see flickering through the veil of his humanity the brightness of the glory of God himself. At no time was this shining more clear and apparent than on that day when John accompanied Jesus, along with Peter and James, to a mountain-top. There before their eyes, Jesus was transfigured. "And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them." (Mark 9 verse 3) Luke describes the same event: "And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them." (Luke 9 verse 29)
What did the disciples see that day? They saw the robe of his humanity pulled aside and their Master clothed in the bright, shining robe of the royalty of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Mark and Luke (and Matthew) described the event in terms of brightness and shining, but they could just as easily have taken the words of the Shulamite and spoken of polished ivory adorned with brilliant sapphires. The Lord Jesus Christ perfectly embodied and expressed the glory of God himself.
He who was sparkling with deity and purity stooped low to take our humanity and in that humanity he went to a bloody death on Calvary.
The countenance of Christ
"his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars."
She likens the general appearance of her beloved to the mountainous region of Lebanon. Those mountains were covered with tall, straight, stately cedars. She calls them "excellent", a word that can be translated "choice" or "elect". The young bride was clearly suggesting that her beloved was the choicest, the most excellent of all men, even as the cedar is the most excellent among trees. The beloved's general appearance was, therefore, of such stateliness and beauty that it placed him apart from all others, in a class by himself.
It was the whole man, not just one aspect of him that caused the bride to praise him as superior to all others. It is the whole Christ that makes him so attractive and delightful to the Christian.
CHAPTER 5 - THE CHURCH PROCLAIMS HIS STRENGTH
"His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars."
Song of Solomon 5 verses 11 to 15
Some parts of the Shulamite's description of her beloved relate more to his beauty while other parts deal with his strength. What she says about his head, eyes, body and countenance all belong to his beauty whilst the others to his strength.
With the phrase "chief among ten thousand" the Shulamite drew her metaphor from the military world. Then she turned to the realm of precious materials to talk about her beloved's head and to the birds of the air to describe his hair and eyes. And in describing the latter she included a couple of other images: milk and the skilful work of a jeweller. In verse 13, she enters the world of scents, while the conclusion of her description takes us again to the realm of precious materials (verses 14 and 15) and to the particular loveliness of Lebanon, with its tall, stately cedars (verse 15).
It seems as if the Shulamite cannot answer the question about what her beloved is like in a quick easy way. She draws on analogies to give an answer and even her answers were incomplete and inadequate.
Christians certainly feel this sense of inadequacy when they have the opportunity to talk about Christ. They feel it when they come before him in worship and prayer and begin to praise his glorious attributes. Perhaps we are conscious of a special sense of inadequacy when it comes to the strength of Christ. In the bride's description of Solomon's hands, legs and hair we are able to discern glimmers of the mighty strength of our Christ.
The hands of Christ
Gold set with beryl
"The idea here is, not that his fingers were covered with golden rings, but that the fingers were as gold rings, rollers or cylinders and the nails were as the beryl set in those rings." George Burrowes
We do know that beryl, whatever its precise identity, was highly regarded among the ancients. It was one of the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest - Exodus 28 verse 20, one of the gems Ezekiel saw in his vision of the wheels - Ezekiel 1 verse 16 and it is to be one of the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem - Revelation 21 verse 20. By coupling the gold and the beryl, the Shulamite was obviously saying the hands of her beloved were extremely precious and attractive to her.
Those strong hands that signed the decrees and controlled the various functions of government had no doubt bestowed lavish gifts upon the Shulamite and had gently and lovingly caressed her. No hands are more precious than the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The creative hands of Christ
All creation came from the hands of Christ.
"I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded." Isaiah 45 verse 12
"Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together." Isaiah 48 verse 13
"Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands." Psalm 102 verse 25
The creative hand of God was also the creative hand of Christ.
"The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made." John 1 verses 2 and 3
Those powerful hands of creation are also the hands that preserve creation.
"And he is before all things and by him all things consist." Colossians 1 verse 17
"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:" Hebrews 1 verse 3
"That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good." Psalm 104 verse 28
"The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." Psalm 145 verses 14 and 16
Kind and loving hands
The loving hand of God dispense deliverance to his people - Psalm 136 verse 12. With that same hand he sustains them by providing for their needs - Psalm 37 verses 24 and 25. With that hand he holds, as it were, the hands of his people and guides them along - Psalm 73 verse 23; 139 verses 9 and 10. The Lord's hand also upholds the one who stumbles - Psalm 37 verse 24 and distributes freely and liberally the graces and gifts that the people of God enjoy - Ephesians 4 verses 7 to 16. If Christ is the one who upholds all things, it follows that Christ is the one who supplied, and still supplies, these gracious providences.
Sometimes the hand of God manifests his love for his people by dispensing chastisement to them. David found this to be so:
"For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah." Psalm 32 verse 4
On another occasion he prayed:
"Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand." Psalm 39 verse 10
Jesus left the glories of heaven and became one of us. Had the eternal God himself not taken human hands, there would have been absolutely no hope for us. But not only did Christ take human hands, he used those hands. Remember Jairus' daughter, the breaking of bread when he fed the 5000, making clay and mixing it with his own saliva and applying it to the eyes of a blind man. Also think of him extending his hands towards Lazarus' tomb as he cries out for him to come forth.
When we think of the hands of Christ we think of the cruel cross. There those hands that had so faithfully and ministered to others were stretched out and nails hammered through them. This was all part of the plan of God for dealing with my sins and yours. Jesus willingly stretched out those hands that day and received those nails that we might be freed from our sins. He took the wrath of God in our stead so that we could be released from that wrath.
The Scriptures tell us that the hands of Christ are the hands of God and that those hands now firmly hold me, along with all who believe - Psalm 73 verse 23; 139 verse 10; John 10 verses 28 to 30.
"Never do the hands of Christ look more beautiful and lovely than when he is beheld as grasping, holding and retaining his people in his hands, out of which they can never be plucked." John Gill
"For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." Psalm 95 verse 7
The legs of Christ
Pillars, marble and gold
"His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold"
This description embodies or encompasses, 3 things: pillars, marble and gold. Pillars we associate with orderliness, strength and beauty. Marble is a non-metallic material that we associate with stability and stateliness. Gold we associate with glory and excellence.
The legs were obviously strong, with fine muscle tone that gave him a beautiful and stately bearing and gait.
First we may say the legs (instruments of walking) represent the strength and activity of Christ as Saviour; pillars represent the stateliness, orderliness and majesty of his eternal purpose: marble pictures the beauty and stability of his works and ways. That brings us to the gold, which represents the glory and excellence of his divine person.
Christ the load-bearer
He is a strong Christ (able to bear the burden or the load placed on him) and all his ways are stable, orderly and beautiful.
Have you ever thought about Christ having to bear a load? What about the load of government. In his prophecy on the coming of Christ, Isaiah tells us "The government will be upon his shoulder" (Isaiah 9 verse 6). What is this government? It is not the government of the whole universe? Speaking of Christ the apostle Paul writes "For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him all things consist" (Colossians 1 verses 16 and 17). All things "consist" in Christ. That means he holds all things together. The government or management of all things has been committed to him.
There is also the load of redemption. It was the load of the sins of those he died to redeem. Isaiah stresses this in his prophecy of Christ's redeeming death on the cross. He speaks of Christ as bearing our griefs (Isaiah 53 verse 4), carrying our sorrows (Isaiah 53 verse 4) and bearing our iniquities and sins (Isaiah 53 verses 11 and 12). He also says that "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53 verse 6).
God has decreed that the penalty for sin is separation from him for ever and there was absolutely no way we could be freed from the crushing burden of sin by ourselves. But Christ took our load. There on the cross, he bore in his own person that penalty of separation from God, which for us would have been an eternal separation. Now that Christ has paid the penalty for our sins, there is no penalty left for us to pay and we are enabled to go free.
isn't it fascinating that when the Lord Jesus Christ bore our penalty on Calvary's cross the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the 2 thieves crucified with him but they did not break his legs? (John 19 verses 32 and 33) What a fitting testimony to those strong legs! They were never broken, not even when the burden of our sin had crushed him in death!
What strength there is in Christ! That strength is captured in the word "able". Hebrews 7 verse 25 says "He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him. Hebrews 2 verse 18 also tells us he is "able to help" his people when they are tempted. Jude 24 says he is "able to keep God's people from stumbling and present them faultless before the presence of his glory."
Those strong legs can trample down as well as bear up. There on the cross, Christ trampled sin, Satan and death and defeated them all. But Scripture solemnly warns us that there is more trampling to come. Those who do not cast themselves on the mercy of Christ, who carried the load of redemption for sinners, will find that some strong Christ trampling them in judgment.
Christ's providential care
In addition to representing strength to carry a load, the legs also represent a person's walk or deportment. Here we deal with our Lord's providential dealings with his people. In addition to the general government of all things, and the burden of sin that he bore for his elect. Christ has in particular the government of his people. John Gill says this involves "their burdens ... their trials, temptations and afflictions." The prophet Isiah ridiculed the idolaters of his day for worshipping a god they had to carry around. He says:
"They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble." Isaiah 46 verse 7
Isaiah was glad to declare that God's people did not have to carry their God. He carried them! The Lord says:
"Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." Isaiah 46 verses 3 and 4
Idolatry is more sophisticated today. Pleasure, position, possessions, power - these are just some of the false gods of this day. Multitudes chase madly after them and serve them. But sooner or later life brings us to that point at which we need to be carried, and the devotees of these gods are face to face with the stark reality that their gods are unable to carry them. Their gods are a load, not a lift. The Christian finds his Lord to be just the opposite: he is a lift not a load.
While Christians rejoice in the strength of the load-carrying Christ, they oftentimes find themselves perplexed and mystified about the way he orders their circumstances. Many Christians, if pressed on this point, would say the load-carrying legs of Christ are strong, but the way-walking legs of Christ are sometimes strange.
The Lord has the best interests of his children at heart in all his ways. Our profound need is to trust that this is true even when it does not seem to be true. What we call the strangeness of God's ways could be more accurately called the smallness of our faith.
The black hair of Christ
The Shulamite notes the waviness or abundance and blackness of Solomon's hair. These features must certainly be taken as emblems of his youthful strength and vigour. We associate grey hair or the absence of hair with advancing years but her beloved wore the abundant black hair of youthfulness. Christ is the perfect expression of such vigour and vitality,
Revelation 1 verse 14 talks about Christ having "white (hair) like wool, as white as snow" but that verse tells Christ is old, as old as eternity. But here lies the greatness of our Christ. Even though he is as old as eternity itself, he has lost none of his power or vigour. Even though he is old, he is for ever young. There is no deterioration in Christ.
"Christ's perfections are continuing perfections; he is a Beloved that never decays, that never waxeth sick, weak nor old; but is ever in youth, with his hair black, although he be eternal and the Ancient of days, for all his properties are unchangeably in him, and ever agree to him... this is good and very comfortable to his people; Christ sets not up nor fails; his Spouse weeps not for the death, decays, or waxing old of her Beloved and Husband, which can be said of no other." James Durham.
"For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death." Psalm 48 verse 14
This brings us to the conclusion of the Shulamite's detailed description of her beloved, a description in which she gladly and enthusiastically proclaimed his excellence. The church of Christ has been charged with the task of proclaiming the excellence of her Christ.
He is sovereign in majesty, constant and unchanging, tender and compassionate. He shines with deity and glory. He supplies the needs of his people. He is the strong Christ who bears the loads of government and redemption. He is the Christ who passively received the wrath of God in the stead of his people.
CHAPTER 6 - THE KISSES OF CHRIST
"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine."
Song of Solomon 1 verse 2
Most of the Song of Solomon consists of the words of the Shulamite or those of her beloved, as she speaks to him and he responds to her. It is a song of mutual love, and love thrives on loving exchanges and mutual praise.
These loving exchanges come very quickly in the Song. It begins abruptly with the bride acknowledging her strong desire to be kissed by her beloved. The kiss is a manifestation of love, of the tenderest affection. In desiring her beloved's kisses, the bride was seeking an enormous privilege. After all, her beloved was the great and wise Solomon, the King of Israel. it was considered to be a high honour for the king even to extend his hand and allow one of his citizens to kiss it But the Shulamite is expressing something completely unthinkable - that is, the desire to be kissed by the king! And not just one kiss will do! She desires "the kisses of his mouth". All the kisses he has to offer, she wants to receive.
She admits this desire to the king himself. it is evident that she is speaking to him because she adds "for thy love is better than wine." The shift from the third person (him) to the second person (your) may be explained in this way: the bride, speaking to her beloved, begins by telling him what had been going through her mind (let him kiss me) and then tells him why she had been thinking of him (your love is better than wine).
What does the Shulamite's desire for the kisses of her beloved have to do with us? Many feel this is nothing more than mere history crouched in poetry and its only function is to remind us of the beauty of such love and to hold before us the ideal that we should all be striving for in our marriages. But scripture entitles us to say there is much more here than mere romance. In fact, it frequently uses the metaphor of the kiss to reflect the joys of the Christian's relationship to Christ.
The kiss of Calvary
The Christian owes his very salvation to certain kisses.
"Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Psalm 85 verse 10
Could there possibly be a better description of what happened on the cross? There God's justice, truth and righteousness met with his grace, mercy and peace and they kissed. They were completely reconciled and satisfied.
Some people say that Christ died only to demonstrate the love of God for us. We ought to look at what he did there for us, feel ashamed of ourselves for being the way we are and resolve to do better. The cross, according to these people was designed only to exert a moral influence on us. But there was much, much more to it than that! Christ was crucified on Golgotha's hill because of a sharp dilemma - God's dilemma. That dilemma may be summarized in this way: how could God punish sin and yet pardon the sinner?
God's justice demanded that the sentence he had pronounced against sinners be carried out, the sentence of eternal separation from himself. But God is also a God of grace and his grace pleaded for mercy for the sinner. The cross of Christ represents the solution to that dilemma. There both justice and grace were satisfied. Justice was satisfied because sin was punished in the person of Christ. God actually poured out on his son an eternity of wrath, so justice had no more to say. But grace was satisfied there as well. Since Christ bore the penalty of God against sin for his people, there is no more penalty for them to pay. Jesus has paid it and justice cannot demand that it be paid a second time. Since Christ has paid the ransom price, those who rely completely on his atoning work are free.
The kiss of reconciliation
Think of the story of the prodigal son. That son, like all of us, rebelled against his father and went into the far country. He was alienated from his father as hostility and resentment ran at flood-tide in his heart. But the son was enabled to see his folly, and he made his way home. As he journeyed he carefully rehearsed what he would say to his father "Father I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants" (Luke 15 verses 18 and 19).
In some of the most dramatic and moving words in all of scripture, Jesus brings the parable to a glorious climax: "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him." (Luke 15 verse 20) Here we have the kiss of reconcilation. Alienation and separation were ended. Rebellion and hostility were gone. The son was home and the father and son were reconciled.
In this moving story, we have a powerful picture of the sinner coming to God the Father. And when he comes, he is received and kissed with the kiss of reconciliation.The apostle Paul writes:
"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;" 2 Corinthians 5 verse 18
As a result of Christ's death on the cross, the sinner can be received by God the Father and reconciled to him. We must be clear at this point. While we are in our sins, we are alienated from God. We are his enemies. Yes, sin is that serious. It is enmity against God. It is the creature thumbing his nose at his Creator and saying, "I refuse to acknowledge you as my Creator and refuse to order my life according to your law."
The cross, and that alone can remove this hostility and enmity. The Holy spirit of God speaks to the heart of the sinner, causing him to become aware of God and of what God is like. He further enables him to see his dreadful state of rebellion and the impending judgement of the God he has opposed. But the Holy Spirit also points to that cross of Christ as the solution to the problem. He tells the sinner that he no longer has to live in rebellion and in fear of judgment, that Jesus Christ's death is sufficient even for him, and that God the Father stands ready now to receive him on the basis of that death.
The Holy Spirit not only enlightens the mind to understand these things, he also woos the sinner to embrace them. He elevates the affections, so that the sinner now sees eternal salvation and the cross that provides it, as his highest good. The Spirit also energizes the will, so the sinner is able to repent of his sins and lay hold upon "Christ and him crucified" in believing faith. Thus the sinner throws down his weapons of rebellion and comes with brokenness and sorrow into the presence of the heavenly Father, saying:
Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to thy cross I cling (Augustus M Toplady)
And wonder of wonders, the heavenly Father gladly receives him. The enmity and hostility are over. Peace has been made. God and sinner are reconciled.
The kiss of the gospel ministry
There is an even stronger evidence for comparing the gospel ministry to a kiss. One of Solomon's proverbs says "He who gives a right answer kisses the lips" (Proverbs 24 verse 26).
When we stop to consider the sinner's terrible plight - estranged from God through sin and under the sentence of eternal wrath - there can certainly be no doubt that the good news of reconciliation through Christ is the "right answer". We must not miss the contrast that Solomon draws at this point. Not all give the right answer. Some say to the wicked:
"He that saith unto the wicked, Thou are righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them." Proverbs 24 verse 24 and 25
How we should prize the ministry that tells us the truth about our sin and points us to Christ!
The kisses of the Christian life
The Christian definitely finds the kisses of Christ in the reconciling work of Christ and the gospel ministry that informs him of it, but that is just the beginning. As the Christian walks with his Lord, he finds there are many more such kisses.
Can I not point to times when Christ suddenly and inexplicably drew me near to himself and gave me the inner realization that I belong to him and that he loves me in a special way? Perhaps while reading God's word, when engaged in prayer or while singing a hymn or listening to a sermon in public worship. Or maybe even when not engaged in religious exercises at all but I was suddenly made aware of Christ's incredible love for me.
Every Christian can recall such kisses, those times when he was overwhelmed with a sense of the wonder and glory of it all, times when he realized afresh how guilty and undeserving of his condemnation, plucked him out and made him an heir to his eternal glory. Every time the Christian is made to feel the tender affection the Saviour has for him, he has, in effect been kissed by Christ.
But the believer also finds himself desiring the kiss of God's blessing upon his service. He desires the kiss of God's presence in his worship. He desires the kiss of God's comfort in his trials. He desires the kiss of God's guidance when he is confused. He desires the kiss of God's sustaining care when he is weary. He desires the kiss of God's forgiveness when he sins. He desires the kiss of God's assurance when he doubts. He desires the kiss of God's provision when his future looks bleak. He looks forward to that glorious day when Christ will return and kiss the bodies of all dead believers with the kiss of resurrection power.
What does it mean when something like this happens to us? It means we have been kissed by the Lord Jesus! And when it happens, we must readily agree with the bride in the Song of Solomon by saying it is the sweetest thing on this earth.
The kiss bestowed on Christ
The Christian has not only been kissed by Christ, but he kisses Christ in return. Kissing is reciprocal in nature. Think of the description of the bridegroom in chapter 5 and in particular the cheeks. The cheeks are receivers. They do not do anything but they often receive a kiss or a caress. Should not the cheeks of the Shulamite's beloved speak to us, then, about the affection, the kisses, that Christ is to receive from his people?
"The cheek is the place of fellowship where we exchange tokens of love. What a blessing it is that Christ should have had a cheek for the lips of love to approach and to kiss! What a privilege it is that ever it should be possible for a loving heart to express its affection to Christ!" C H Spurgeon - sermon Spices, Flowers, Lilies and Myrrh
What are these kisses the Christian bestows upon the Lord?
The kiss of trembling submission
"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Psalm 2 verse 2
These are the Psalmist's wise counsel to men who are filled with anxiety, even to the point that they are compared to the tossing and raging sea. In their feverish anxiety, they rush together for consultation on how to remove the cause of their agitation. And what is the cause of it all? The psalmist leaves us in no doubt. It is "the Lord" and "his anointed". In other words, these men want to be free from God and his anointed king. Who is this anointed king? He is none other than the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. These men do not want to be fettered by God's commands. They want to be their own gods.
And what is God's response to all their ranting and raving? The psalmist says he laughs. He scoffs at puny men as they strut briefly across the stage of history, shaking their fists in his face and fuming at him. (Psalm 2 verse 4). After he laughs at these men, God speaks to them: "Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion" (Psalm 2 verse 6). With these words, the sovereign God declares that what his enemies are trying to prevent is already an accomplished fact. Christ has already been made King and nothing can prevent it or nullify it. Spurgeon sums it up in these words "While they are proposing, he has disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is done and man's will frets and raves in vain. God's Anointed is appointed and shall not be disappointed."
So hostility against God and his Son is futile. What is left then? The psalmist's counsel - kiss the Son! Recognise the sovereign decree of God that Jesus Christ is king, throw down the arms of rebellion and as any wise subject would do, bow before him in true homage and affection. Those who refuse to take their place as humble subjects of their rightful King can expect this King to do what any king would do - destroy them as rebels. The choice, then is clear: bow as a subject o Christ, or perish as a rebel.
The Christian has, by the grace of God, kissed the King. He has seen the folly of rebellion against the one who must rule and will rule. He has cast aside his weapons, and with a heart filled with awe and affection he has taken his place before the king in trembling and glad submission.
The kiss of gratitude bestowed on Christ
Luke 7 - the story of the sinful woman. She came during a meal Jesus was having with Simon the Pharisee. She kissed not Jesus' cheeks but his feet, washed them with her tears and anointed them with fragrant oil. Simon was shocked that Jesus would allow such a sinful woman even to approach him. But Jesus understood. Her kisses flowed from a heart overwhelmed with gratitude. Although a vile sinner she had found abounding mercy. As far as she was concerned, the only fitting response to mercy full and free was kisses of gratitude.
We cannot wash the feet of Jesus and kiss them. But we can bestow kisses of gratitude on him. When we gather together to praise his name and exalt his salvation, or when we come before his throne of grace in prayer to thank him and adore him, we plant kisses of affection on his cheek. What is the observance of the Lord's Supper except an occasion for us to kiss the cheek of Christ?
The sad reality is that our love towards Christ can abate - Matthew 24 verse 12. The church of Ephesus will for ever stand as a lasting reminder of the tragedy of love grown cold. There was much in that church to commend: sound doctrine, concern about holiness, energetic service - all existed in the church of Ephesus. But there was something missing - the fervent love for Christ they had known at first - Revelation 2 verses 1 to 7.
The kiss of fellowship bestowed on fellow believers
As we read the word of God, we discover that there is yet another kiss for the Christian to bestow - that is, the kiss of fellowship upon his brothers and sisters in Christ - 1 Corinthians 16 verse 20, 2 Corinthians 13 verse 13, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 26 and 1 Peter 5 verse 14. In some cultures this kiss of fellowship is still expressed by an actual kiss on the cheek. In others by warm handshakes and embraces, in deeds of kindness and in expressions of appreciation and concern. Any way in which a believer expresses love for another Christian may be considered a kiss of fellowship.
Such love is inevitable. The apostle John puts it bluntly "If someone says, 'I love God' and hates his brother, he is a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him; that he who loves God must love his brother also." 1 John 4 verses 20 and 21
CHAPTER 7 - CHRIST THE SHEPHERD
"Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents." Song of Solomon 1 verses 7 and 8
How did this Shulamite maid meet a king and start a romance? Solomon evidently owned a vineyard near where she lived and probably came to it for a visit. Maybe this woman caught his eye but he disguised himself first. She was taken in by the ruse, hence why she asked where he was planning to feed and water his sheep so she could visit later. Solomon suggested she follow their tracks and look for the shepherds tents. Soon we realise the Shulamite maid has found the truth - verse 12.
What a lovely picture of Jesus as our shepherd and we as his sheep! Throughout scripture we see these references.
"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Isaiah 40 verse 11
These verses refer to God's action in shepherding his people by bringing them out of captivity in the land of Babylon and restoring them to their own land.
When we come to the New Testament we see so many references connecting Jesus to Old Testament prophecies.
It is clear that Jesus himself would come from David's family and his kingdom would last for ever. In Micah we have the clear reference that he would be born in Bethlehem but also that he would feed his flock. This would result in his flock abiding in him - a clear reference to Jesus' last words to his disciples in John's gospel. We see throughout the gospels how Jesus had compassion for the people - they were like sheep without a shepherd. Every time he performed a miracle his heart was on display. It was demonstrated when he engaged sin weary souls in earnest conversation and pointed them to himself as the only answer to their need.
That shepherd's heart was on display when Jesus went to Calvary's cross and laid down his life for his sheep. In the tenth chapter of his gospel, the apostle John records Jesus speaking at length about this very matter. 4 times in this passage Jesus declares that he was going to "give" or "lay down" his life for his sheep - verses 11, 15, 17 and 18.
It was not often that concern for the sheep caused a shepherd to lose his own life. David in the Old Testament put his life on the line for his sheep at least twice - once when they were threatened by a bear and once when a lion attacked them but in each instance David was able to defend his sheep and save his own life. However in the case of Jesus it was different. The salvation of his flock demanded the sacrifice of his own life. The very fact that the bible refers to Christ's people as sheep tells us why it was necessary for him to lay down his life. Sheep are defenceless and helpless.
In this matter of atoning for sin and attaining spiritual life, Christ's sheep were absolutely helpless - Romans 5 verse 6. The only way Jesus, the Shepherd, could secure life for his sheep was by laying down his own life. He had to absorb the penalty of death in their stead so that they could go free. God 'made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.' 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21
Christ's death was, therefore, substitutionary in nature. He died "for the sheep" (John 10 verse 11). His death was instead of their death. Something was about to strike the sheep, but he came between them and the danger and was stricken in their place. Specifically, he absorbed the blow of God's justice against the sins of his people, and in doing so has reconciled us to God (1 Peter 2 verse 24). The apostle Peter summarizes it in this way: "For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls" (1 Peter 2 verse 25)
In addition to being substitutionary, the death of Christ was also voluntary. When Jesus died on the cross his enemies thought they were taking his life from him, but nothing could have been further from the truth. There on the cross the Lord was voluntarily laying his life down to purchase the redemption of his flock. When the Roman procurator, Pilate, accorded to himself too large a role in the crucifixion, the Lord Jesus quickly set the record straight: "You could have no power at all against me", he said "unless it had been given you from above." (John 19 verse 11)
The Lord Jesus also emphasized the victorious nature of his death for his sheep. When Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and placed it in his own tomb, the enemies of Christ thought they were finally finished with him. They thought the crucifixion was the last word about Jesus. But the Lord Jesus went to the cross knowing he would rise from the dead. Thus he declared that he was laying his life down that he might "take it again" (John 10 verses 17 and 18). If Jesus had just died, his death would have had no value for the sheep. By rising again he declared that he had justified his sheep (Romans 4 verse 25) and guaranteed that he would ascend to the Father and send the Holy Spirit to apply the benefits of his death.
Then there is the co-operative nature of his death. Jesus makes mention of his Father a total of 4 times in his "Good Shepherd" discourse - verses 15, 17 and 18. His death was not something he did on his own. It was part of the plan worked out with his Father before the world began. And the Father took special delight in seeing his Son work out, in minute detail and on the stage of history, what they had so carefully planned together in eternity.
The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus shed "the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Hebrews 13 verse 20). The price he paid to purchase his sheep was not a surprise or an afterthought with him or with his Father, but was in compliance with the plan of redemption that they agreed upon before the foundation of the world (2 Timothy 1 verse 19).
Finally the Lord emphasized the effectiveness of his death by calling attention to the "other sheep" he had which were outside "this fold" (John 10 verse 16). This meant that his death was going to reach far beyond the narrow confines of the Jewish nation and include all the nations of the earth. In the book of Revelation we see how powerful and effective the death of Jesus is. There we find a vast throng gathered around the throne of God, singing these words to Christ:
"Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;" Revelation 5 verse 9
Christ tending his sheep
Sheep have to be fed and watered. They have to be guided and properly rested. They have to be protected from predators, and sometimes from other shepherds. The Lord purchased his flock by his death on Calvary's cross, and he now provides for them.
The Lord Jesus feeds his sheep through under-shepherds. He is the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5 verse 4) and he has appointed these under-shepherds to serve the needs of the flock at his direction and under his authority. These under-shepherds are to care for the sheep willingly and lovingly (1 Peter 5 verse 2). They are to feed the sheep with the food the Lord has designated, namely the wholesome, nourishing food of the Word of God.
In his message to the Ephesian elders about feeding the Lord's sheep, the apostle Paul sets out his own example in these words: "I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20 verse 27). There is the charge given to every under-shepherd: "Declare the whole counsel of God!" Only then can the sheep grow healthy and strong. Paul later calls this spiritual food "the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20 verse 32). But it is not enough for the under-shepherds to declare that word. They must also exemplify it. They are, in the words of the apostle Peter, not to be "lords" over those entrusted to them, but rather "examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5 verse 3).
Psalm 23 divides quite naturally into 2 parts. In verses 1 to 4 David talks about the Lord as his shepherd. In verses 5 and 6 David talks about the Lord as his host. The section on the Lord as his shepherd can itself be divided into 2 parts. First David talks about the Lord's shepherdly care in life (verses 1 to 3) and then in death (verse 4).
The Lord's care in this life is a combination of tenderness and firmness. The tenderness comes out as David speaks of green pastures and still waters. The Lord does indeed provide for all our needs. But the Shepherd also wants us to conduct ourselves in the right way, and here is where the firmness comes in. When he begins to stray he pulls us back into the way and in so doing, leads us in paths of righteousness.
From that point David goes on to assert that the Lord's care is sufficient for us in death. Up to this point David talks about God, but here he begins talking to God. He pictures death as entering a valley and confronting a shadow. Suddenly he becomes aware of the fact that someone else is there with him. It is the very same Lord who shepherded him all through life.
This Shepherd whom David greatly loved, has never been seen during life. But David sees him now, and he sees him clearly enough to discern that he is carrying a rod and staff. The shepherds rod and staff were sources of much comfort to his sheep. They could be used to rescue sheep from pits and ravines as well as to ward off predators. And David, as he sees them, suddenly finds comfort flooding into his soul. He knew that, as a child of God, he had dreadful enemies, sworn to destroy his soul, but the sight of that rod and that staff brought home the realisation that he was absolutely safe. No evil power could touch him, not even death itself.
David urges each one to find strength by looking for that great Shepherd of the sheep, there in the shadows. He is more than sufficient to drive away all the enemies that gather around his people at the hour of death.
The separating Shepherd
Jesus himself speaks of a day when he will be the separating Shepherd. He says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand, 'Come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ...' Then he will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' (Matthew 25 verses 31 to 34
Those who do not cast themselves totally upon Jesus Christ and rely unreservedly upon his atoning death for their acceptance with God will find themselves the objects of his wrath, not his shepherdly care.
CHAPTER 8 - WITH CHRIST IN THE BANQUETING HALL
"He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love."
Song of Solomon 2 verse 4
Here we find the bridegroom and the bride speaking to each other. The bridegroom says that in comparison to other women his bride is "like a lily among thorns" (verse 2). She responds by saying he is to other men as an apple tree is to all the other trees of the woods. This mutual praise is followed by a distinct shift, which is signalled by the use of the pronoun "he". The bride has ceased speaking to the bridegroom and has begun speaking about him. Verse 7 identifies those to whom she speaks as the "daughters of Jerusalem."
These were probably her bridesmaids or attendants. But on the deeper level, in which the Song pictures the mutual love of Christ and the church, they may, in the words of Erroll Hulse, be viewed as "the enquirers and seekers after truth who attend the churches."
What does this young woman have to say to her companions? She tells them of that special time in which her beloved brought her into his banqueting hall and she was so impressed with the magnificence and splendour of it all that she was almost overcome.
This young lady was completely unaccustomed to finery. She knew a good deal about tents, vineyards, sunburn, foxes and apple trees, but virtually nothing about the king's banqueting hall. There the king entertained the best-known figures of the world. It was a place of exquisite finery and majesty, a place where the daintiest foods were served and when the king himself would appear in dazzling array.
The young Shulamite would probably have considered it honour enough for someone of her background to be allowed to see such a place. But the king was not content merely to give her a tour of the hall. He actually entertained her there! He took this common, ordinary girl to his banqueting hall and treated her as though she were some great world figure, as though she were royalty herself.
There was no doubt in this young woman's mind as to how it all came about. It was all explained in a single banner hanging over the table: "Love". Evidently, the kings of those days adorned their banqueting halls with banners, embroidered with various insignia which proclaimed the might and courage of the king. When the Shulamite entered the banqueting hall she noticed there was only one banner and it declared, not the king's might and glory, but rather his love for her. She was there because the king loved her and desired to entertain her there. She was to enjoy these rich blessings solely because the king had set his love upon her.
There are distinct parallels between the Shulamite's experience in Solomon's banqueting hall and the Christian's experience of fellowship with Christ. In the first place, what the Shulamite found in Solomon's banqueting hall pictures what Christians find in their walk with Christ.
The abundance of life in Christ
It was pictured beforehand
2 Old Testament passages present powerful and compelling pictures of the believer feasting spiritually in the midst of abundance. In Psalm 23 David writes of the Lord as a host who lavishly provides a table laden with good, perfumed oil for anointing and a cup that overflows.
"And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations." Isaiah 25 verses 6 to 8
The prophet Jeremiah strikes this same chord with the words: "I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord." Jeremiah 31 verse 14
Are we entitled to regard the Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of these passages? Yes. The Lord Jesus himself seized the imagery of Psalm 23 and applied it to himself when he called himself the Good Shepherd. We also know it is legitimate to link Isaiah's song of praise with Christ because 2 apostles, Paul and John, do just this. Paul takes up the phrase in Isaiah 25 verse 8 about death being swallowed up and links it to the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15 verse 54). And John draws from that same verse to affirm that God will take away all tears from the faces of his people when the eternal day dawns (Revelation 21 verse 4). That day of rejoicing is made possible only through the atoning death of Christ.
While the prophecy of Jeremiah refers first to Judah's return from captivity in Babylon, it is not exhausted by that event.
It was specifically claimed by Christ
The Lord Jesus was keenly aware of the abundance pictured by David, Isaiah and Jeremiah, and had no hesitation in asserting that he had come for the express purpose of providing that abundance. Immediately before he identifies himself as the Good Shepherd, the Lord declares that he had come that his people should not only have life but have it "more abundantly" (John 10 verse 10). He seems to have had in mind the latter portion of Psalm 23 which describes the abundant provision of the Shepherd for the sheep.
At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he attended a marriage feast in Cana. The governor of the feast had a thorny dilemma. The wine rang out before the feast was over. Jesus, knowing that wine was a symbol of joy, life and vitality, and thus a fitting emblem for the salvation he came to provide, seized the opportunity. He commanded that 6 waterpots be filled with water and that some be drawn out and taken to the governor. Somewhere along the line that water became the choicest wine. The fact that these waterpots were filled to the brim indicated something of the abundant nature of the salvation he had come to provide.
It is experienced by the Christian in salvation
The abundant life that Jesus came to provide actually becomes the precious possession of the sinner when he repents of his sin and casts himself totally upon the atoning death of Christ Jesus. At that point, he experiences a reception similar to that described in the parable of the prodigal son. That son, having thrown himself recklessly into riotous living and having reaped the whirlwind of misery and woe, finally made his way back to his father. As he went, he carefully rehearsed his speech. If his father would take him back, he would willingly become a hired servant. But his father had different ideas! Seeing him while he was still a good distance away, the father ran to his son, fell on his neck and kissed him He commanded that a robe be put around his shoulders, a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. He ordered that the fatted calf should be killed and a merry celebration should take place (Luke 15 verses 11 to 24)
The heavenly Father has a feast spread for each and every one of those who come to him in faith. What a bountiful feast it is! Open your bible and begin to read. This whole book is about God graciously restoring sinful men and women to fellowship with him through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you read, you will find insights into this stunning work of redemption. As you turn these insights over in your mind, you will feel you are tasting rare delicacies. And when you think you have exhausted all possible insights into this glorious redemption, you will be amazed to find fresh supplies being carried in from the kitchen!
It is experienced by the Christian in discipleship
In addition to the insights Scripture gives us into the glories of redemption, there are precious promises to sustain us. These promises tell us of his care and presence through this life and of the inheritance laid up for us in the life to come. The truths and promises with which the scriptures teem are rare delicacies to the child of God. No believer should be able to read the Word of God for long before he finds himself at a veritable banquet of soul-satisfying truths concerning Christ! But to do so he must look for Christ in all the scriptures!
Experienced by the Christian in public worship
Matthew Henry says of the Shulamite entering Solomon's banqueting house, "Surely then we may apply it to Christian assemblies, where the gospel is preached and gospel-ordinances are administered." Henry is not overreaching here. David was fond of speaking of public worship in terms of experiencing abundance. He writes of God's people: "They are abundantly satisfied with the fulness of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your pleasures" (Psalm 36 verse 8).
He also tells us what he himself expected from public worship
"To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:" Psalm 63 verses 2 and 5
Still further he writes:
"we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." Psalm 65 verse 4
Sadly, public worship has become for many dull and devoid of life. But whenever God's people gather to truly magnify their Lord, to dwell upon his glorious attributes, to worship in Spirit and in truth, to hear the preaching of Christ and his gospel of glory, to bow down before him in worship, love and praise - then they fully partake of the riches of his table, the wonders of his name. The abundance God's house offers to us ought to cause fervent love for the church to well up within us.
Experienced by the Christian in eternity
While the Lord provides bountifully and lavishly for his people in this world, this cannot compare with the bounty he promises in heaven. Here we dine at a table in the wilderness (Psalm 78 verse 19) but in heaven there awaits us an unspeakably splendid and glorious event, the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19 verses 7 to 9).
The wedding customs of scriptural times required the bride and her attendants to gather at her home to prepare for the wedding, while the groom and his attendants prepared at his home. When the groom was ready, he would make his way to the bride's house. She, in the meanwhile, would be looking out of the window in eager anticipation of his coming. When he did arrive, he and his attendants would escort the bride back to his house for a gala wedding feast that would last for several days.
The Lord Jesus Christ has gone away to prepare to take his bride to himself (John 14 verses 1 to 3). In turn, his bride, the church, is also preparing for that day. She waits on earth (1 Thessalonians 1 verses 9 and 10), eagerly looking for him to return (Titus 2 verse 13). The Lord Jesus for whom she waits will finally come again and escort her to his home (1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13 to 18). Then that greatest of all feasts, the marriage supper of the Lamb, will take place with abounding joy and gladness.
The gracious nature of Christ's abundance
Secondly, there is a parallel between the way in which the Shulamite came to enjoy the abundance of Solomon's banqueting house and the way the Christian comes to enjoy the abundance of Christ. A sense of wonder and awe pervades the Shulamite's words in this Song. it was incredible to her that Solomon, King of Israel, arrayed in majesty and splendour, should love her.
She expresses this wonder early and often. It is there when she pleads with Solomon not to look upon her unfavourably because of the darkness of her sun-tanned skin (chapter 1 verses 5 and 6). It is there when she relates her visit to the garden to see if the walnuts were ripening and the vines budding. These were the ordinary tasks of an ordinary day. But suddenly and dramatically everything changed. She puts it in these words:
"Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib." Chapter 6 verse 12
What happened to her while she was engaged in these mundane tasks? Evidently, it was at this point that she met Solomon and before she knew it she was whisked away either metaphorically or literally in one of his chariots. She was lifted from peasant girl to queen in a very sudden and unexpected manner. We find that same sense of awe when she says, "He brought me to the banqueting house" (chapter 2 verse 4). An ordinary country girl in the king's imposing banqueting hall - what an astounding thing!
Those who enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ can see themselves in this picture of the wide-eyed Shulamite standing in the splendour of the banqueting hall. We know we are in the banqueting hall of fellowship with the King of kings and Lord of lords only because he has set his love upon unlovely sinners such as us.
We were no more deserving of that love than was the young Shulamite. there was nothing about us to commend us to the Lord, nothing that should cause him to take an interest in us. The Lord did not bring us into fellowship with himself because there was something we could contribute to his wealth. What could a poor country girl contribute to King Solomon? Nothing! And what could we contribute to the Lord of glory? Nothing! We are in fellowship with him, then, simply because he has set his love upon us. The apostle Paul puts it in these words:
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5 verse 8
In another place, Paul writes, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9 The apostle John adds these words "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4 verses 10 and 19)
If we are to function as children of God should, we must continually see the wonder of our salvation. And if we are to see the wonder of salvation, we must dwell upon the wide gap between what we were when the Lord found us and what, by God's free grace, we have become.
The Christian's response
The sense of being overwhelmed
Imagine the Shulamite walking into this stately hall. The tables are laden with food. Musicians are playing. Attendants stand ready to serve. Beautiful mosaics are all around. Fountains of water send out their silver spray. The fragrance of flowers fills the hall. The bible tells us that Solomon's wealth and finery so overwhelmed the Queen of Sheba that there was "no more spirit in her" (1 Kings 10 verse 5). If this finery could have such an effect on another head of state, how would we expect the young Shulamite to respond, especially in the light of the fact that her presence there was due to Solomon's love for her?
She tells us what the effect was. She was overwhelmed by it. She says she was "sick of love." That means she was so overcome by it all that she felt faint. She had to take some food in order to overcome this faintness. "Sustain me with cakes of raisins, refresh me with apples" she said (chapter 2 verse 5). Many Christians have testified to having much the same experience as they reflected on the spiritual banquet spread before them by Christ.
Shutting out disruptions
The love and communion she enjoyed that night in the banqueting hall were still vivid in her mind as she described her experience to the daughters of Jerusalem. They were not just the experiences of a single feast. Her intense concern was to keep the experience of fellowship with the king flaming brightly. So as she recounts her experience in the banqueting hall to the daughters of Jerusalem, she registers her concern that nothing should be allowed to disrupt them. She likens this love relationship to the gazelles and does of the field - animals that are timorous by nature - and she urges her attendants to let the love she shared with her beloved run its course.
Those who have entered into some of the depths of fellowship and communion with Christ find themselves very concerned that nothing be allowed into their lives that would disrupt it. Comparing the Shulamite's visit to the banqueting hall with our experiences of fellowship with Christ ought to give us pause for thought. We should recognise that there is far more to this business of walking in communion with the Lord Jesus Christ than most of us have ever realized There are depths we have never experienced, heights we have never attained. May God help us to desire a greater experience of fellowship with our Lord and to begin to enter into it.
CHAPTER 9 - THE GRACIOUS VOICE OF CHRIST
“The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the
mountains, skipping upon the hills." Song of Solomon 2 verse 8
First there is what we may call the "arresting voice"
that reaches the Shulamite while her beloved is still afar off. The mere sound
of his voice was sufficient to make her exclaim, "the voice of my
beloved!" Then follows what the beloved said to the Shulamite when
he had come near (chapter 2 verses 10 to 14). A little later we find the Shulamite describing her response to her
beloved's voice: "My heart went out to him when he spoke" (chapter 5
verse 6). The emphasis in this section on the voice of the beloved gives us the
opportunity to contemplate the voice of the Christian's beloved, the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It goes without saying that the 4 Gospels have much to say about the voice of
Jesus - that is, about the words that he spoke and the manner in which he spoke
them. Very early in Jesus' public ministry the citizens of his home town,
Nazareth, "marvelled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his
mouth" (Luke 4 verse 22). A little later in Capernaum the people were
"astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority" (Luke 4
verse 32). While he was there, Jesus cast a demon out of a man, and the people
were "all amazed" and said among themselves, "what a word this
is!" (Luke 4 verses 33 to 36)
From these auspicious beginnings, the powerful gracious voice of Jesus
continued to work. Jesus said, "Rise up and walk" and lame men quit
their beds. Jesus cried, "peace be still" and the rolling waves and
boisterous wind immediately obeyed. Jesus called, "Lazarus, come
forth" and a living Lazarus emerged from the tomb.
Jesus himself stressed the importance of his word. He
likened it to good seed that fell on different kinds of soils, and urged his
hearers to be fruitful in their response to it. He went further and likened
those who heeded his word to a wise man who built his house on a rock, and
those who refused to hear him to a foolish man, who built on sand.
In John's gospel, Jesus boldly asserts that he spoke only the words that the
Father gave him to speak. God the Father testified to the importance and
reliability of the words of Christ when he spoke from heaven to Peter, James
and John: "This is my beloved Son. Hear him" (Luke 9 verse 35). This
incident came hard on the heels of an episode in which Simon Peter had taken it
upon himself to question the reliability of Jesus' word (Matthew 16 verse 21 and
22).
In a better moment, Simon Peter himself testified to the glorious words of
Christ. Many of Jesus' professing disciples, having just heard a pointed
message on the necessity of his blood-atonement, turned away from him saying,
"This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" (John 6 verses 60 and
66). Jesus responded, not by pleading with them to stay, but by putting this
question squarely before his original 12 disciples: "Do you also want to
go away?" (John 6 verse 67). Simon Peter, who so often stumbled and
failed, rose to the occasion. "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words
of eternal life" was his memorable response (John verse 68). The
voice of Jesus was so compelling that officers who were sent to arrest him came
back empty-handed saying, "No man ever spoke like this man!" (John 7
verses 45 and 46).
The apostle John heard the voice of Jesus in a different
setting. Christ was now ascended to the right hand of the father, and he
appeared to John and spoke with a voice so awesome and majestic that John records
that it was "as the sound of many waters” (Revelation 1 verse 15).
The voice of Jesus, so admirable and so marvellous, has spoken. And he
continues to speak in our own day, to each and every child of God.
An awakening voice
The Shulamite heard her beloved's voice from afar and like a fleet gazelle,
he crossed the mountains to come to her. Think of how Christ came to his elect
in their darkness and their need
Charles Wesley - "fast bound in sin and nature's night"
Ephesians 2 verse 1 "we were dead in trespasses and
sins."
We lay in a spiritual graveyard, devoid of life and unable
to do anything to help ourselves (dead men do not raise themselves from the
dead). All was utterly bleak and completely hopeless. Then, we heard a
penetrating, awakening voice, the voice of Christ Jesus saying, "Arise
dead soul, I give you life." Our spiritual eyelids fluttered and we began
to stir. Jesus himself speaks of this spiritual resurrection in John's Gospel
"Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who
sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed
from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now
is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear
will live." (John 5 verses 24 and 25)
The dead of whom Jesus was speaking here are the same as
those to whom Paul was referring in Ephesians 2 verse 1 - those who are
spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins. Jesus speaks later about the
resurrection of the physical body (John 5 verses 28 and 29) His subject here is
the resurrection of the soul from spiritual death. And he emphasizes that it is
only his voice that can waken dead souls and grant them spiritual life. Such
things are not accomplished by polished programmes, entertaining worship and
clever preachers, but by the voice of Christ. That voice makes the different
between eternal life and eternal death.
How does that voice come to us? The voice of Christ come to us through the Word
of God. Spiritual quickening does not occur except through the gospel of the
scriptures. As Paul emphatically affirms, "Faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10 verse 17).
An inviting voice
The voice that once awakened the spiritual ears of every
believer did not then cease. It continues to sound as Christ invites his people
to commune with him. Lovers always desire to commune with each other. It is one
of love's most delightful joys.
"Rise up my love, my fair one, And come away. for lo, the
winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the
time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes
give a good smell. Rise up my love, my fair one. And come away!" Song of Solomon
2 verses 10 to 13
Solomon goes further to tell the Shulamite why he desired
her to rise and go with him
"Let me see your countenance, let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely" Song of Solomon 2
verses 14
Solomon received immense delight from hearing the voice of the one he loved. He
later says:
"You who dwell in the gardens, the companions listen for your voice - let
me hear it!" Song of Solomon 8 verse 13
As Solomon desired to hear the voice of the Shulamite, so
Christ desires to hear the voice of his people He calls us to communion with
him. He longs to meet us "in the secret place" (chapter 2 verse 14)
where he can hear us voice our prayer, our needs, our supplications and our
praise. The proper response to the voice of Christ is the sound of our own
voices. Perhaps the one thing Christ most wants to hear from his people is
prayer for the work of his Spirit. We might say he is especially pleased when
the church takes upon her lips the plea of the Shulamite:
"Blow upon my garden, that that its spices may flow
out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits." Song
of Solomon 4 verse 16
Before the church can properly pray this prayer she must, however, heed the
voice of her beloved by rising up and coming away. Are we to rise up? Yes. All
too often our Lord finds us settled in complacency and apathy. And that
complacency is completely out of keeping with what he has done for us.
"Come away" is a two sided term. On one hand, it means to leave
behind the territory we presently occupy and, on the other hand, to begin to
occupy new territory. In other words, we are not only to come away from
something, we are to come to something.
From what are we to come away? What does the Lord want us to leave behind?
Perhaps he is calling us from "the worship of this vain world's golden
store"; perhaps he wants us to come away from a vacillating superficial
commitment. Or perhaps he is calling some to leave behind them festering
resentment and hurt feelings. To yet another he appeals for a departure from
shortness of temper and a sharpness of tongues. Or perhaps he is calling some
to leave behind them festering resentment and hurt feelings. To yet another he
appeals for a departure from shortness of temper and a sharpness of tongue. Perhaps
he calls us to come away from petty and trifling concerns.
Our Lord does more, however, than call to us to enjoy
communion with himself. He gives us a powerful incentive for doing so - namely,
what he has already done for us. And what has he done? To use the imagery
Solomon employs with the Shulamite, he has brought spiritual springtime into
our hearts and lives. Because of Christ Christians can apply the bridegroom's
words in verses 12 to 13 to their own experience.
"The winter is past" (chapter 2 verse 11). Winter is the time of
deadness and barrenness, and those who know Christ will be quick to say there
was a time when they lived in a spiritual winter. They were, as we have seen,
spiritually dead. But through the grace of God they were granted spiritual
life. The imagery of the passing of winter and the coming of spring is an
appropriate way to convey the dramatic transformation that takes place when a
person comes to know Christ.
"The rain is over and gone" (chapter 2 verse 11). Rain suggests
thunderclouds, which are a fitting symbol of the wrath of God. The apostle John
says, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does
not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him" (John 3 verse 36) What a picture! The rebel sinner lives beneath the
thunderclouds of God's judgement, but for the believer those storm clouds have
vanished int he sunshine of God's grace.
"The time of singing has come" (chapter 2 verse 12). To the
Christians, the whole world takes on a brighter, happier appearance because of
the peace and joy he has in Christ.
"The voice of the turtledove is heard" (chapter 2
verse 12). To the believer the dove can represent only one thing, namely, the
Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit descended at Jesus' baptism, he came in the
form of a dove. To say the Christian hears the voice of the dove is to say he
hears the voice of the Holy Spirit. How does he hear this voice? Audibly? No.
The Christian hears the voice of the Spirit in the Word of God. The Spirit does
his work through that word, as Paul confirmed when he called the Word of God
"the sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians verse 17).
"The fig tree puts forth .... green figs and the vines
... give a good smell" (chapter 2 verse 13). Here we have fruitfulness and
fragrance combined, a combination that exists in the lives of God's children.
Christians do not all bear the same amount of fruit, but every one bears fruit
to some degree. When the fig tree bears green figs it is evidence that summer
is near, the time when fruitfulness is fully realised. The believer may not
bear, at the beginning of his Christian walk, the fruit he yields later in
life. But there is evidence from the beginning that fruitfulness is coming, and
this fruit is pleasing to God and man alike, just as "The tender grapes
give a good smell" (chapter 2 verse 13).
The spiritual springtime enjoyed by the Christian is reason enough for him to respond to Christ's call to communion. How could he not desire to commune with one who has done so much for him?
A heeded voice
The voice that called us from afar, and brought us spiritual life, is still speaking. It is the voice of our Shepherd. As that voice sounds, we find that we are quite unable to shut it out or ignore it.
The Lord Jesus speaks of this reality in terms of a shepherd and his sheep. Sheep have a certain characteristic - they know the voice of their shepherd. Jesus says "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." He then proceeds to say, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" As we read these things, we surely find ourselves nodding in agreement. Yes, it is true, those who are the Lord's sheep both follow and obey the voice of their great Shepherd. All true sheep do! The one who says he is a sheep but has no desire to follow the Shepherd is confused about his identity. He is no sheep at all, but will at last be found among the goats.
Perhaps someone is saying, "Just how do you, who consider yourselves sheep, hear the voice of your Shepherd?" We answer by pointing to the bible, the written word of God. It is there that we "hear" the voice of Christ and find the Shepherd's guidance. The psalmist says to the Lord, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119 verse 105)
Life has a way of grinding us down. As we seek to cope with all that it throws at us, we can easily become despondent and depressed. But the word of God comforts us. It tells us of a heavenly Father who has loved us with an eternal, undying love, a love that he manifested in the supreme act of giving his only Son to die on a cross, that we might be saved from eternal destruction. It assures us that the Father who has gone to such an incredible length to save us will never let us go (Romans 8 verses 31 to 39) but will continue his word in us until he finally presents us faultless before the throne of his glory. As I read my bible, I find accounts of God's wondrous works, and I find myself assured that his wisdom and power are unlimited and his grace is sufficient.
This leads me to the precious and glorious promises I find in scripture. What promises they are!
His promise to guide us
His promise to complete his work
His promise to bring us into heavenly glory
His promise to supply us with sufficient strength
As I open this book and find Christ speaking to me through his instructions, his comfort, his past works and his ongoing promises. I realise anew why God puts such a premium upon his word, even to the point where the psalmist writes, "For you have magnified your word above all your name" (Psalm 138 verse 2). Should we not join him in saying, "Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold"? (Psalm 118 verse 127)
Though the cover is worn
And the pages are torn
And though places bear traces of tears
Yet more precious than gold
Is the Book, worn and old
That can shatter and scatter my fears. When I prayerfully look
In the precious old Book
Many pleasures and treasures I see
Many tokens of love
From the Father above
Who is nearest and dearest to me.
This old Book is my guide
'Tis a friend by my side
It will lighten and brighten my way
And each promise I find
Soothes and gladdens my mind
As I read and heed it today.
Part of the Shulamite's long description of her beloved is devoted to his lips: "His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh" (chapter 5 verse 13). The lilies to which she refers were of a brilliant red colour. Myrrh was resin used as a perfume. By putting these 2 things together, the Shulamite was declaring that every word that fell from her beloved's lips was as pleasant as the sweetest perfume.
Psalm 45 is a prophetic review of the Messiah and his bride, the church. Part of it is taken up with the bride's musings as she waits for her groom to appear and escort her to the marriage feast (verses 2 to 9). The very first thought that comes to her mind as she thinks about him is related in these words:
"Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever." (verse 2)
The church waits for her Saviour to appear (1 Thessalonians 1 verses 9 and 10). There is much for her to muse about as she waits and one of those things is his word. As she waits, she reads, and as she reads she marvels, and says to her Lord, "Grace is poured upon your lips." Do we understand this? To the extent that we heed the scripture, to that extent we hear the voice of Christ.
The resurrecting voice
That same voice will one day sound in glorious triumph, as Jesus returns to this benighted earth, revealing himself as "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Revelation 19 verse 16). The dead will rise at the sounding of that voice, for he had this to say about that stunning moment. "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5 verses 28 and 29)
There are then 2 resurrections for the believer. The first took place when the Lord Jesus raised him from spiritual death and granted him eternal life. The second is the resurrection of his body from the grave. For the unbeliever, however, there is only one resurrection - that solemn moment when he is raised to stand before God's judgment throne to give account of himself and to hear pronounced the sentence of eternal wrath.
"Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power." (Revelation 20 verse 6)
We either have, as believers, 2 resurrections, the first spiritual and the second physical, separated by one death (physical); or else, as unbelievers, one resurrection (physical) and 2 deaths (physical and eternal). The believer is indeed "blessed". He is the happiest of men because he has received the greatest of all God's blessings, spiritual and eternal life, and has nothing to fear on the Day of Judgement.
CHAPTER 10 - DECLENSION: CHRIST'S VOICE SPURNED
"I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer." Song of Solomon 5 verse 6
While the bride gladly heard and heeded her beloved's voice in chapter 2, here she spurns and rebuffs it.
Her beloved comes to her at night, knocks on the door, and speaks: "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled:" (verse 2). We expect, of course, to read that the bride immediately goes to the door and lets him in. But that is not what happens. Instead she lingers in bed and offers only a trivial excuse. She says she would have to get up out of a warm bed, put her robe on and get her feet dirty! What terrible inconvenience that would have caused! Clearly, there is some basic problem here from which we may learn.
The beloved's appeal and the bride's response
The beloved comes to the door and speaks. 3 characteristics of his appeal are immediately noticeable. It is direct, tender and urgent, and each of these features can be related to the voice of Christ speaking to his people.
The beloved knocks and says, "Open for me." The appeal was so simple and straightforward that she could not plead ignorance or misunderstanding. The gravity of her action is revealed here. She refused to honour his specific, simple request.
Then notice the tenderness of his appeal. He employs several terms of endearment to move her to do as he requested. He calls her "my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one", all of which are designed to evoke a warm response.
"He not only give her no hard names, nor upbraids her with unkindness in not sitting up for him, but, on the contrary, studies how to express his tender affection to her still." Matthew Henry
Finally, his appeal was urgent. The beloved says, "My head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night." There he stands, damp and chilly with the dew, while she is warm and comfortable in her self-indulgence. We might at first be inclined to chuckle at the situation. It is, after all, quite ludicrous. Her beloved is standing outside in the cold, knocking for entrance and she refuses to be put to any trouble. At first it might have all seemed harmless to the bride herself, but she soon realized the seriousness of it.
Evidently, there was a little opening beside the door latch, and the husband made a movement with his hand, as if to unlatch the door. But instead he suddenly withdrew his hand.
"In the Eastern door there is generally a place near the lock into which a man can put his hand, and there is a pin inside which, if removed, unfastens the door. Each one of these locks is different from another, so that no one usually understands how to open the door except the master." C H Spurgeon
The sight of her husband's hand somehow stirred the bride and she realized belatedly how lazy and thoughtless she had been in refusing to open the door. Even so, instead of going directly to the door, she took time to put on her perfume, which was the customary way of welcoming one's beloved. By the time she finally opened the door, however, he was gone. So the chastened bride began to search for her husband. her search seemed fruitless for a time, and sad words are spoken: "I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer" (chapter 5 verse 6)
The search proved to be very difficult. The watchman of the city misinterpreted her reason for wandering about the city, and treated her very roughly (chapter 5 verse 7).
Christ's voice and our response
This incident, of course, creates a poignant and challenging picture for the child of God. It warns him of a tragic possibility, that of spurning the voice of his Saviour and Lord. How does this fit with what we noted in the previous chapter - namely, that the Christian heeds the voice of Christ? Surely it is a contradiction to declare that the Christian heeds the voice of Christ and then to say that he can also spurn the voice of Christ? Sadly, the contradiction is sometimes a reality. The contradiction can be understood when we learn to distinguish between what is normally true of the believer and what is occasionally the case. Normally, the Christian heeds the voice of Christ. That is the general tenor of a believer's life. But there are times when sin prevails and he spurns that voice.
Examples of this sad fact abound in Scripture. Simon Peter hears the Lord speak about his impending death at the hands of the chief priests and scribes and, without a moment's reflection, takes Jesus aside to put him right. "Far be it from you, Lord" he protests. "This shall not happen to you!" (Matthew 26 verse 22) How urgently Peter needed the stern reminder that sounded from heaven on the Mount of Transfiguration: "This is my beloved Son, in which I am well pleased. Hear him!" (Matthew 17 verse 5) It was Simon again who heard the voice of Jesus warn his disciples to watch and pray (Matthew 26 verses 40 and 41). Yet he failed to heed that word and went on to deny his Master 3 times.
So strong is this tendency to stop listening to the voice of Christ that the apostles frequently found it necessary to sound an alarm against it. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14 verse 37). The author of Hebrews urged his readers to "give the more earnest heed" to the things which they had heard (Hebrews 2 verse 1). He then proceeded to caution them about their dullness in hearing the word (Hebrews 5 verse 11). Again, towards the close of his epistle, he added this word of admonition: "See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven" (Hebrews 12 verse 25). James warned his readers to "receive with meekness the implanted word" and caution them to be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1 verses 21 to 25).
Perhaps the most gripping of all scriptures on this matter comes from the pen of the apostle John as he records letters from the risen, glorified Christ to the 7 churches of Asia. Pointedly, Christ says to each church, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches ..." (Revelation 2 verses 7, 11, 17, 29; 3 verses 6, 13 and 22) In the last of these letters, addressed to the smug, self-satisfied church of Laodicea, the Lord picks up the imagery of the Song of Solomon and pictures himself as standing outside the door of his own church, knocking for entry: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me." (Revelation 3 verse 20) As we read those measured, powerful words we cannot help but hear in them the same direct, tender and urgent time used by the beloved in the Song of Solomon.
It is a direct and clear appeal. Christ calls upon his church to "open the door" so that she might enjoy communion with him. There is nothing complicated or mysterious here. Her failure to open the door stems, not from confusion about the appeal, but purely from laziness, the desire not to be inconvenienced."
It is a tender appeal. Christ always seeks to move his church to action by speaking kindly and lovingly. He is never abrasive and cruel. Oh, that this picture would sink into our hearts! Christ knocks gently when he could break down the door and speaks tenderly when he could berate us for our indolence.
It is also an urgent appeal. This is not because he is in any need, nor because there is any lack or deficiency in Christ that his church can supply. The urgency stems from his fervent desire to commune with his people. We should be ashamed that God's desire to fellowship with us is often greater than ours to commune with him.
The picture we have in the Song of Solomon is, therefore, strikingly real. The child of God, and even whole churches, can spurn the voice of Christ in the same way that the bride spurned the voice of her beloved. Let us always seek to be like those commended by God in Isaiah 66 verse 2:
"On this one will I look (with favour); On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word."
The terrible cost of spurning the voice of Christ
The bride paid
a high price, in terms of anguish and suffering, for rebuffing her beloved. So
too do Christians, and the church corporately, if they spurn the voice of
Christ and do not heed his word. That cost can be summarized in one word – separation.
Refusing to heed the voice of Christ causes him to hide himself from us.
True believers
can never be separated from Christ in the sense that our union with him is
severed or destroyed. The apostle Paul makes this clear with his triumphant
question: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8 verse
35) But while we can never truly be
separated from Christ, we may temporarily experience separation in terms of our
communion with him. This is a common theme in Scripture. Several verses speak
of the Lord hiding his face from his people. To Hosea’s generation the Lord pronounced
these solemn words:
“I will return again to my place till they
acknowledge their offence. Then they will seek my face; in their affliction
they will diligently seek me.” Hosea 5 verse 15
The people of
Isaiah’s time were to experience separation from God to the extent that they
would ultimately cry,
“Look down from
heaven, and see from your habitation, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal
and your strength. The yearning of you heart and your mercies toward me? And
they restrained?” Isaiah 63 verse 15
A little later
we find these people’s sad admission to God: “For you have hidden your face
from us” (Isaiah 64 verse 7)
So believers,
personally and corporately, may suffer the loss of God’s felt presence. An arid
dryness saps their spiritual joy and reduces their worship to a formality.
Prayer meetings are devoid of life and preaching becomes a chore to both
preacher and hearers alike. This is a common condition in our day.
The end of
separation from Christ
How then can we
gain a renewed sense of Christ? The account of the Shulamite and her beloved
provides us with some guidance on this matter.
Seeking
When the
Shulamite realized her beloved had withdrawn from her, she immediately began to
seek him. Her search soon caught the attention of the watchmen of the city.
Suspicious of her prowling about at that time of night, they struck and wounded
her (chapter 5 verse 7) but she remained undeterred. Her fervent seeking
reminds us of that large body of scripture that holds before us the need to
seek the Lord.
“Seek the Lord
and his strength; seek his face evermore!” 1 Chronicles 16 verse 11
Later the same
author records David’s message to the leaders of Israel: “Now set your heart
and your soul to seek the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 22 verse 19). In his
psalms, David continually expressed the desire to seek the Lord, likening the
intensity of his search to physical thirst (Psalm 42 verses 1 and 2, 63 verse
1)
Seeking the
Lord is especially vital when we have driven him from us by our sin and
indolence in spiritual matters. If we humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face
and turn from our wicked ways, we can be assured that he will hear, forgive and
heal (2 Chronicles 7 verse 14)
We have grieved
the Lord by our apathy, and we have not felt the enormity of our loss. Only
when we see that will we be driven to seek our Lord urgently, fervently and
wholeheartedly. And only that kind of seeking will heal our relationship with
him. Such seeking is extremely rare these days, so much so that those who
engage in it may be misunderstood, as was the Shulamite by the watchmen. May
God help us to consider that a small price to pay for the joy of true spiritual
restoration.
Enlisting
the help of others
After receiving
abuse from the watchmen of the city, the Shulamite turned to the daughters of
Jerusalem to enlist their help:
“I charge you
... if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am lovesick!” (chapter 5 verse
8)
C H Spurgeon
sees in her plea, a picture of the child of God going to his fellow saints. We
never need their help more than when we are in a cold and backslidden
condition. Spurgeon offers this counsel to those who are in a cold and
backslidden condition. “Enlist your brother saints to pray for you. Go with
them to their gatherings for prayer. Their company may help you find Jesus.
Follow the footsteps of the flock, and you may by and by discover the
Shepherd.”
The twin tasks
of seeking and enlisting ought to convince us that it is not an easy business
to heal the breach when we have slighted Christ. Some think they can drive
Christ away by their sin and easily bring him back. But if it were that easy,
we would not duly prize the restoration of his experienced presence, and would
soon drive him away again. This is not about a Christian losing his salvation
but rather losing the sense of Christ’s presence and the comforts of knowing
Christ. These are not easily restored. At such times we are truly cast upon the
Lord.
Gracious
visitation from the Lord
There is
another dimension to this matter of healing the breach between ourselves and
our Lord – namely that it does not all depend on us. The Lord supplies us with
his grace here, as he does at every other point in our lives. We can see the
truth of our Lord’s renewing grace by going back to chapter 2 of the Song.
There we find the Shulamite saying the beloved had been like a gazelle to her
(chapter 2 verses 8 and 9).
What was behind
this statement? The very matter we are concerned with – separation. Evidently,
after a period of wonderful closeness in which they delighted in each other’s
company, the Shulamite had been separated for a time from her beloved. What
caused this separation? The Shulamite mentions mountains and hills. Life
presents us with many difficulties and challenges that so preoccupy us that our
communion with Christ may be affected.
Sometimes a
separation from Christ is a means by which he furthers his purpose for our
lives. The soul has its season, as does nature and each season has a purpose.
The cold barrenness of winter makes possible the vitality, fruitfulness and
fragrance of spring. In like manner, the Lord sometimes takes his people
through barren times so that we might come to be more fragrant and fruitful for
him. He withdraws from us so that we might feel how utterly helpless we are
without him, that we might not take for granted the privilege of communion with
him, but prize and treasure it.
But the
mountains and the hills could not stop the beloved from coming to the Shulamite.
She caught a glimpse of him gazing at her through the window. It was only a
glimpse, but that was enough to fill her heart with sheer delight.
As she mused on
this visit, the bride realized how much like a gazelle her beloved had been in
bringing their separation to an end. The gazelle is a very speedy animal with
magnificent leaping ability. Her beloved, in gazelle-like fashion, had come to
her as quickly as possible and had leaped over formidable obstacles to do so.
Our mountains
of difficulty and hills of care may make him seem far away, but they are
nothing to him. Like the gazelle he can easily and speedily leap over them to
come to us.
We can never
know when the Lord is going to leap the barriers and overwhelm us by a
conscious experience of his presence and grace. When we are out of communion
with Christ we go sighing along the way. We know we need to draw close to him,
but we do not seem to be able to do it. Sometimes we almost despair as we
wonder if we shall ever feel close to the Lord again. Then suddenly we catch a
glimpse of him.
However it
happens, we are made to realize again the glories of redemption, and the icy
coldness of our hearts begins to thaw. These warm, renewing glimpses of Christ
pave the way for sweet communion to be restored.
Thank God for
such times of renewing visitation! We know, of course, that we are living in a
land of shadows, and that we shall never be able to enjoy perfect communion
with Christ until “the day breaks and the shadows flee away.” But when such
times occur, we find ourselves earnestly desiring that we might never be
separated from Christ again.
We also know
that the best we can hope for in this life of shadows is that the Lord Jesus
will often come to spend time with us in our conscious experience. How often
the shadow of separation from Christ falls across our paths! Thank God a day is
coming when the shadows will flee. Then there will be no more separation from
him. Communion with him will be perfect and permanent. We now see through a
glass darkly, but then we shall see face to face (1 Corinthians 13 verse 13).
No more will we have to content ourselves with glimpses of our Lord. But until
that day comes, we have to pray constantly that the Lord will sustain us with
frequent visits in which our consciousness of communion with him is
strengthened and renewed.
CHAPTER 11 - THE FRIENDSHIP OF CHRIST
"His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." Song of Solomon 5 verse 16
The daughters of Jerusalem asked the Shulamite why her beloved was so special to her - chapter 5 verse 9. She proceeded to answer detail by detail until she had gone from his head to his feet. She brings her description to a conclusion with these words.
It may seem to us as if the Shulamite is descending from a very high plane to one that is considerably lower when she concludes by describing her "beloved" as her "friend". To our way of thinking, love is much higher than friendship. Surely, if the Shulamite had wanted to end her description on a truly high note, she would simply have said, "this is my beloved."
Friendship in our day is a very wide term that covers anything from a casual acquaintance to an extremely loyal relationship. Unfortunately it often seems that there are more of the former than the latter. When the bible talks about friendship, however, it usually has in mind a loyal relationship. Friendship in the bible is the firm comradeship or partnership that springs from the highest love. This is borne out by these words from Solomon himself: "A friend loves at all times" (Proverbs 17 verse 17).
The love of a friend is so deep and true that he or she is willing to tell us the truth even when it hurts. Solomon stated this fact when he wrote, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Proverbs 27 verse 6)
In calling her beloved her "friend", the Shulamite was not, therefore, descending to a lower level at all, but rather reinforcing all that the term "beloved" conveys. She was referring to intense love and unswerving loyalty.
Christ is an altogether lovely friend to the Christian. When the believer thinks of the friendship of Christ, his mind gravitates to yet another of Solomon's proverbs: "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18 verse 24). As far as the Christian is concerned, there can be no doubt about the identity of the friend that "sticks closer than a brother". It is none other than the Lord Jesus.
The friendship of Jesus takes us to that moving and memorable night before Jesus was crucified. The scene was the upper room where Jesus had gathered with his disciples to observe the Passover. Supper was now ended. Judas Iscariot had gone out into the dark night of betrayal and spiritual ruin. Jesus was left alone with his 11 true disciples. To these men Jesus spoke explicitly about his impending death. They were crushed with sorrow and dismay.
Nothing stands out more clearly, on that night heavy with emotion, than the tenderness of the Lord Jesus Christ towards his sorrowing disciples. How tenderly he spoke about the Father's house (John 14 verses 1 to 3), the privilege of prayer (John 14 verses 12 and 14), the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14 verse 14 to 18, 16 verse 5 to 15), the gift of peace (John 14 verses 25 to 27) and the "little while" they would be separated from him (John 16 verses 16 to 22).
Tucked away in the middle of all those comforting words, we find that term "friends." It crops up twice in these words: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15 verses 13 and 14) it appears again in the very next verse "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15 verse 15)
One of the primary truths that emerges from Jesus' words on that night is that his friendship is different from any other. Out of all the special friendships most of us enjoy, none can compare with the friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A different kind of friendship
It began in a different way
How is Christ's friendship different? We can say, first, that it begins in a different way from other friendships. We all know how friendships are usually formed. People are attracted to each other by mutual interests and become friends. In other words, most friendships come about as a result of the mutual choice of people who are equals.
But the friendship of Christ is different. It comes about as a result of his choosing us. And this happened, not while we were his equals (something we never have been and never will be) but rather when we were his enemies (Romans 5 verses 8 to 10). When Jesus called his disciples his "friends", he stressed that it was because of his choice of them "You did not choose me, but I chose you ..." (John 15 verse 16).
What was true of those disciples is true of all Christians. The apostle Paul tells the believers in Ephesus that they were chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1 verse 4). Other scriptures stress that Christ determined to be our friend while we were still his enemies. The "carnal mind", the mind we are all born with, is "enmity against God and "not subject to the law of God" (Romans 8 verse 7). The truth of the matter is that those of who us enjoy the friendship of Jesus were not at first friendly to him at all. We were in a state of rebellion and hostility towards him. We were not even interested in his friendship. We were interested only in ourselves and in going our own way.
But, in spite of it all, the Lord Jesus Christ befriended us. He did so first in eternity by the election of grace, and then in time by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. In that regeneration, he replaced the stony heart of hostility with the soft heart of friendship.
It was manifested in a different way
This brings us to another difference between mere human friendships and the friendship of Jesus - that is, the way it is manifested. Firstly, the friendship of Christ is measured by the Father's love for the Son. Jesus' words to his disciples convey this great truth: "As the Father loved me, I also have loved you" (John 15 verse 9). His friendship for them flowed from a love that was like the Father's love towards him.
Imagine it: the Lord Jesus loves his friends in the same way the Father loves him. How does God the Father love Christ? We are totally out of our depth here. But we can say at the very least that the Father loves the Son with a love that is without measure, without change and without end. And Christ loves his friends in the same way - without measure (no line can fathom it), without change (he does not love us less one day than he does another) and without end (the love that is the same today as it was yesterday will always be the same). No wonder the biblical authors appear almost breathless as they contemplate that love. The apostle John must have felt this way when he exclaimed, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God." (1 John 3 verse 1)
Secondly, Christ's friendship is measured by the cross. Such an indication of the degree of Jesus' friendship is found in John 15 verse 13, where he speaks of laying down his life for them. We are all familiar with stories about people laying down their lives for their friends.
But we make a serious mistake if we think the death of Jesus for his friends was in the same category as such heroic acts. You see, when one man lays down his life for another he is doing an admirable thing, but he is only speeding up something that will inevitably happen anyway. We are all going to die sooner or later, and our dying for a friend only hastens the event. Jesus, on the other hand, did not have to die. When he took our humanity at Bethlehem and went to the cross on Golgotha, he was doing something he did not have to do.
Even that does not say it all. Jesus not only died a death he did not have to die, but he also died a death like no other death. It was far more than a physical phenomenon. It was a death in which he experienced an eternity of being forsaken by God in the place and stead of his friends!
We shall never appreciate the love manifested in the death of Christ until we understand why it was necessary and what it accomplished. There Christ interposed himself between, the wrath of God the Father and sinners, and absorbed that wrath himself. He took the sinner's place.
Some words from the Shulamite give us insight into the nature of Christ's death on the cross. She referred to her beloved as an apple tree in the forest (chapter 2 verse 3). Among all the trees found there, he was unique, without peer or rival. She then proceeds to say, "I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." (chapter 2 verse 3)
Here reference to shade takes us to the very core of the cross of Christ. The burning rays of the sun were falling upon the Shulamite until she came under the apple tree. That tree came between her and the sun and she was shaded.
Now let the sun represent the wrath of God and the Shulamite the sinner upon whom those rays are falling. The apple tree of course, represents Christ, and his atoning death. He absorbed the rays of God's wrath, and all those who flee to him shade from that wrath.
As we reflect on the shade that Christ provides from the scorching head of God's wrath, we see that he has fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Isaiah 32 verses 1 and 2
A different kind of life
Because the believer has in Christ a different kind of friend, a friend like no other, his whole life is different.
Different priorities
For one thing, he has a wholly different set of priorities. As Jesus spoke to his disciples about his friendship with them, he pointed out that they could not simply live like others. His friendship put certain demands upon them. They could not play fast and loose with his commands. Part of being a friend of Christ is doing what he asks: "You are my friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15 verse 14).
One of the commands of Jesus is that his followers should love one another (John 15 verse 17). We cannot claim to be his friends if we do not love his other friends. Yet another priority that flows from the friendship of Christ is being willing to endure the hostility of the world. Jesus says, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15 verse 19) Some vainly imagine that it is possible to be both the friend of the world and the friend of Christ but the bible assures us that it is not: "Do you not know that friendship with the world enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4 verse 4)
Divine comfort and peace
These priorities may make it seem that the Christian life is nothing but difficulty and hardship. It does entail these things, as Jesus made very clear. But it also brings peace and comfort that unbelievers do not know. Jesus pointed this out to his disciples in these precious words: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14 verse 27). The Christian has great peace from knowing Christ. In him he has one to whom he can bring his griefs and cares. The author of Hebrews urges his readers to "come boldly to the throne of grace" so that they might "obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4 verse 16
In Christ the believer has a friend to guide him (Psalm 73 verse 24; Proverbs 3 verses 5 and 6) help him (Psalm 33 verse 20; 40 verse 17; Hebrews 13 verse 6) keep him (Psalm 121 verse 5; Jude 24), sustain him (Psalm 55 verse 22), sympathize with him (Hebrews 4 verse 14) and provide for his needs (Philippians 4 verse 19). In addition to these things, the believer has peace because he know he has in Christ a friend who will never leave him or forsake him. He can join the psalmist in saying, "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me" (Psalm 27 verse 10)
The author of Hebrews writes of Christ "He himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" (Hebrews 13 verse 5) This not only applies to each and every day of life, it also applies to the hour of death. What an hour that is! Other friends are unable to help us then. They are helpless, but our divine friend is not helpless. He is there in the gathering gloom to meet us and escort us safely home. Every believer can take David's words as his own:
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Psalm 23 verse 4
After this life is over comes the judgement. Oh, how we shall need a friend on that solemn day! Earthly friends will be of no value but the Christian has the friend he needs. The Lord Jesus who befriended him in this life will be there with him. It is not so with the wicked.
CHAPTER 12 - A CHURCH MADE FAIR
"Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes." Song of Solomon 1 verse 15
"Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead." Song of Solomon 4 verse 1
"Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." Song of Solomon 4 verse 7
"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" Song of Solomon 6 verse 10
"How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!" Song of Solomon 7 verse 6
The common denominator in the above verses is the word "fair". It is a word that signifies perfect beauty. It will become apparent that the bride's beauty was so overwhelming that it could only be adequately portrayed by a rich variety of figures and secondly, that she was completely beautiful. There was no flaw to be found anywhere in her person.
Almost all beauty is flawed, but that was not the case with this bride.
Her eyes were as gentle and tender as the eyes of a dove.
Her hair was as black and shining as the goats grazing on Mount Gilead.
Her teeth glistened with the whiteness of newly shorn sheep, the upper and lower teeth perfectly matched like twins, while her lips, like a thread of scarlet, needed no make-up to beautify them. All of which made her mouth most lovely.
Her temples (or perhaps cheeks) were red, the colour of a freshly sliced pomegranate.
Her neck was straight and stately like the tower of David, a tower built to store the shields of a thousand mighty men.
The breasts of the young woman were as beautiful and appealing as fawns feeding among the lilies.
Another detailed description of the Shulamite is found in Song of Solomon - chapter 7 verses 1 to 11. There the beloved calls attention to:
her feet - verse 1
thighs - verse 1
navel - verse 2
waist - verse 2
breasts - verse 3, 7 and 8
neck - verse 4
eyes - verse 4
nose - verse 4
head - verse 5
hair - verse 5
stature - verse 7
In addition to all these things, her breath was pleasant - verse 8.
All of these qualities made such a profound impression on Solomon that he was compelled to exclaim repeatedly: "Behold you are fair, my love! Behold you are fair!" (chapter 1 verse 15 and 4 verse 1) He also declares: "You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you" (chapter 4 verse 7).
"Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!" Song of Solomon 4 verses 9 and 10
He goes yet further in his praise for her with these words:
"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" Song of Solomon 6 verse 10
The beloved's praise reaches a climax in these words "How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights!" (chapter 7 verse 6). These descriptions and exclamations make it clear that Solomon was quite overwhelmed with the beauty of his bride. This comes as no surprise to us. We are familiar with such expressions from someone who is smitten with love.
But how many of us think of Christ and his love for his church in these terms? How many of us think of him as being smitten with the beauty of the church? How many of us think of Christ as exclaiming "How fair!" when he speaks of his heavenly bride? How many of us would choose the word "overwhelmed" to describe the effect his people have on Christ?
We are painfully aware of the deficiencies of the church. If asked to describe how Christ thinks of her, we might suggest that he should be dejected and disappointed. Certainly he cannot possibly be thrilled with his church, can he? Our tendency is perhaps to think of Christ as being saddled with a church that falls far short of his hopes and expectations.
But it is not so! Although the church is far from perfect in this world, there is still much about her that is fair, and the Lord delights in her fairness even now. We know he does because we have explicit affirmations in Scripture to that effect. The psalmist says, "For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he will beautify the humble with salvation" (Psalm 149 verse 4) And the prophet Isaiah adds, "And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62 verse 5). Another prophet Zephaniah, pictures the Lord singing with delight over his people:
"The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." Zephaniah 3 verse 17
Let us try to understand how it is that Christ can view his church with such enthusiasm.
The vile material from which the church is made
It is difficult for those who make up the church to think of her as being fair to Christ for one simple reason; we know what we were before we became part of the church. We know the apostle Paul was right when he said, "We all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (Ephesians 2 verse 3) We have to nod in agreement when Paul describes those who are separate from Christ as "having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart (Ephesians 4 verse 18)
The truth of the matter is this: those of us who now make up the church were anything but fair by nature. We were sinners, under the wrath of God. There was nothing in us to commend us to God. Occasionally someone will explain God's reason for saving his people by saying "Even though we were sinners, God saw some good in us." Nothing could be further from the truth. Such a statement contradicts Paul's piercing indictment of the human race:
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Romans 3 verses 10 to 12
Paul's words have no room for misunderstanding. God does not find any good in us, for no part of our human nature has escaped the dreadful blight of sin. No Christian will quibble with Paul's analysis. We all became aware of the plague of our hearts when the Lord in grace convicted us of our sinful state and brought us to himself.
We can think of a lot of words to describe the material from which the Lord Jesus constructs his church, but "fair" is not one of them. We might use words such as "foul" or "vile" or "polluted" but certainly not "fair." How in the light of the nature of those who constitute the church, can anyone suggest that the Lord Jesus sees his church as "fair"?
We are not what we were
The answer to that question is that those who make up the church are not what they once were. In other words, the Lord Jesus did not just take us as we were and put us into his church. He has changed us. Nowhere is that change more forcefully and clearly stated than in these words from the apostle Paul: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5 verse 17).
How Paul delighted to remind his fellow-believers of this transformation! He loved to paint in contrasting colours what they had been and what they had become. A powerful example of this is found in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul writes, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6 verses 9 to 11)
The same great contrast is present in these words the apostle wrote to Titus: "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour towards man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that having been justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3 verses 3 to 7)
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5 verses 25 to 27)
The church is fair to Christ, then, because he has made her fair! All who belong to her have been washed and made fair. Certain words jump out at us from these verses, words that convey the nature of this washing that has made us fair in the sight of God.
Regeneration
The first thing that happens in those who are washed by Christ is spiritual regeneration. Paul writes "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3 verse 5) The sinner is dead in his sins and dead towards God. He does not have the mind to comprehend the truth of God, the will to embrace the demands of God, or the heart to love God. If we were to wait for the sinner to move towards God, we should wait for ever. The sinner has no more disposition or inclination to do so that a mouse has to approach a cat.
The word "regeneration" tells us that God moves towards the sinner. He comes, as it were, to the spiritual cemetery, finds the sinner there and grants him life. God does not stand at the graveside and plead with the dead sinner to come out of his grave, but rather imparts life to the dead. The sinner has no ability to leave his grave. He cannot even hear the message, let alone respond to it.
No, God does not pin his plan of salvation on the sinner bringing himself out of spiritual deadness. God first grants the sinner life and then, and only then, can the sinner hear God speak and respond to his speaking.
Regeneration, then, is that gracious act in which God, by his Holy Spirit, intervenes in the life of the sinner and not only enables him to trust in Christ as his Saviour; but also grants him a whole new disposition - that is, one to love Christ and serve him. It is God's gracious granting of spiritual life to spiritually dead sinners.
It is interesting that the apostle Paul relates this act of regeneration to "washing" (Titus 3 verse 5). How is it possible to equate God's gift of spiritual life to sinners with washing? The answer is that at the same time as God imparts spiritual life to the sinner, he also cleanses him from his sin, from his love for sin, from his hostility towards God and from his inability to understand, love and serve God.
The cleansing agent
We need to note the "water" that God uses to bring it about. Paul identifies it for us, saying that Christ gave himself for the church "that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5 verses 25 and 26). James agrees, telling us that God "brought us forth" - that is imparted spiritual life to us - "by the word of truth" (James 1 verse 18). The apostle Peter also says our spiritual life comes about "through the word of God which lives and abides for ever" (1 Peter 1 verse 23)
God does his regenerating work by his Spirit through his word, the Holy Scriptures. Through that Word God makes the sinner aware that he must some day give an account to God, his Creator and rightful Sovereign; that God is holy himself and demands holiness of his creatures; and that he the sinner, has no righteousness or merit to commend him to God, but rather is a guilty sinner. This word also makes it clear that this fateful accounting is hastening towards the sinner at a fearful speed. It is all most devastating.
Thank God, this same word has incredibly glorious news to offer - namely, that the holy God before whom we must give account has provided a way for our sins to be forgiven and cleansed, through the redeeming death of his Son. It is all there in the precious Word of God, and by using that Word to make the sinner aware of these things, God grants him spiritual life.
Justification
A second aspect of what is involved in the church being made fair is justification. We might call this "legal washing", Justification takes us into a court of law. A guilty man stands before a judge to hear his sentence of condemnation pronounced. Instead he hears the judge say that he is not condemned but acquitted.
All who live in this world and breathe God's air are under his law. That law pronounces a curse. It says that if we break God's commandments we must endure his wrath and be separated from him in eternal hell (2 Thessalonians 1 verse 9). Every last one of us comes under the penalty of this law because we all break God's commandments in thought, in word and in deed (Romans 3 verses 10 to 18, 23). It would seem that there is no hope for us. God's law stands over us demanding perfect obedience and declaring eternal judgement on all disobedience. We are the criminals in God's court of law and God himself is the judge.
Yet, thank God, the case is not hopeless. Instead of hearing God pronounce their condemnation, those who make up the church have heard him order their acquittal. In other words, they are "Justified" - that is, declared righteous, or just, before God.
How does this magnificently wonderful thing come about? It is certainly not by God's arbitrarily setting aside his law. God does not simply say to those whom he justifies, "You have broken my law but even though it requires condemnation, I am going to ignore it and let you go free." God cannot do that. He must honour his own law. If he refused to do so he would violate his own just and holy nature. Here is the glory of the gospel, God has, at one and the same time, found a way both to honour his law and to let guilty sinners go free. In other words, he found a way to be the "just justifier" by satisfying the demands of his law and yet pronouncing guilty sinners guiltless.
That way is his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ took our humanity upon himself, thus placing himself under the law of God. He lived in perfect obedience to that law and then went to the cross and endured the wrath of God on behalf of the chosen sinners who compose his church. He could endure the wrath of God for the sins of others because he had no sins of his own. Because he bore the wrath of God on behalf of his church there is no wrath left for them to endure. God's justice is satisfied, then, because its sentence has been carried out. Because Christ suffered the penalty for the sins of his people, and the penalty cannot be exacted twice, God commands those for whom Christ died to go free.
The church is fair to the triune God, therefore because Christ himself took her sin and has cleansed her from her sin. But there is more to it than that. Paul declares that God "made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5 verse 21). The church is not only clean in God's sight but she has received the glorious dress of Christ's righteousness to replace the filthy rags of her sin. She is fair because she is endowed with the seamless robe of the righteousness of Christ.
Sanctification
There is a sense in which sanctification is already complete. There is another sense in which it is ongoing. The first sense may be referred to as positional sanctification and the latter as progressive.
Positional sanctification. The word "sanctify" means "to set apart". It should be noted that the apostle Paul, in the 1 Corinthians 6 verse 11 places sanctification between washing (regeneration) and justification. He writes, "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." It should also be noted that Paul uses the aorist tense in describing each of these stages of salvation. This signifies that the action is completed. In one sense, therefore, every believer in Christ is sanctified at the same time as he is washed and justified. From that moment onwards, he is set apart by God for the purpose of holy living.
Progressive sanctification. Scripture also speaks of sanctification as an ongoing work. Paul says Christ gave himself for the church, "that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5 verses 26 and 27). Making the church fair is a process. It begins with regeneration and justification and it ends, in glorification. The middle stage of the process, that stage that fills the gap between the initial cleansing (regeneration) and the ultimate cleansing (glorification) is "progressive" sanctification.
Why is this middle stage necessary? The fact is that those who make up the church still have much sin in their lives even though they have been regenerated and justified, and sanctification deals with that sin. The fact that the church is regenerated and justified does not mean we are completely clean. In regeneration we are given a new disposition. In justification we are released from the condemnation of God's law. But there is still much sin to be rooted out of our lives. This rooting out takes place through the process of sanctification. Paul's words to the Ephesians make it clear that Christ died for the church with a view to this process of sanctification.
This is part of the Lord's cleansing of his church. it is something that he carries forward. This requires emphasis because so many split justification and sanctification. They insist that it is possible to receive one part of our Lord's saving work while rejecting another part. In other words, they say it is possible to receive forgiveness of sins by receiving Christ as Saviour while rejecting him as Lord. The so-called "carnal Christian" is supposedly one who has done this. He has received forgiveness for his sins but, although he is now saved, he continues to live in sin. He has taken justification, but he refuses to take sanctification.
Paul throws all this out of the window by asserting that the Lord is cleansing his church, and sanctification is part of that process. we do not, therefore, sign up for sanctification. As soon as we are saved, we are automatically enrolled in the school of sanctification, and our Lord is the headmaster of that school.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1 verse 6). The Lord does not begin the work of salvation when we believe in him as Saviour and then stand helplessly by if we refuse to be sanctified. He carries the work forward and he has a multitude of ways of doing so (including chastisement, Hebrews 12 verses 5 to 11).
The primary means of sanctification
The primary agent our Lord uses for carrying out his work of sanctification is laid out for us by Paul. He says the sanctification of the church takes place "with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5 verse 26). The truths of the Word of God are essential not only in the act of regeneration, but also in the process of sanctification. How does the Word of God sanctify us? For one thing, it reminds us that we have, as noted above, already been sanctified! It tells us that God has already set us apart for himself and that we are, therefore, to recognise who we are and to live accordingly.
Scripture also defines sin for us. It tells us what pleases God and what does not. It also holds before us truths that motivate us to break away from sin and live increasingly for God - namely, God's holiness and hatred of sin, his determination to judge sin and his willingness to forgive sin. The bible also contributes to our sanctification by reminding us of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We are not alone in our struggle against sin, The Holy Spirit indwells each Christian for the specific purpose of strengthening and helping him to combat sin and to live for God.
Furthermore, the bible assures us of a day in which the Lord Jesus Christ will return to take his people from this world of sin. The promise of the glory of that day fills us with amazement and makes us want to live holy lives. The apostle John calls our attention to the wonder of what awaits us and the demand it places upon us: "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure" (1 John 3 verses 2 and 3).
If he is going to do all this for us, we must certainly desire to please him.
The respects in which the church is fair to Christ
The Lord's work of regeneration, justification and sanctification means that there is already much about the church in which he delights. In what other respects can it be said that the church is fair to Christ at the present time? We do have to speculate about this. Scripture affirms that the Lord delights in the church's worship and praise (Psalm 69 verse 31; 87 verse 2), her faith (Hebrews 11 verse 56), her prayers (Proverbs 15 verse 8), her holiness (1 Samuel 15 verse 22), her reverence for him and her hope in him (Psalm 147 verse 11), her ministry (Philippians 4 verse 18) and her graces.
The Song of Solomon calls our attention to additional aspects of the church that please Christ - namely, her correspondence, or likeness, to himself and her lack of correspondence to the world. The former is conveyed to us by these words: "Like a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters" (chapter 2 verse 2) The position of these words is very important. The beloved has just referred to himself as the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. The very next thing he says is that his bride is also like a lily. He is a lily; she is a lily. There is a correspondence between the two.
One of the reasons why Christ has such a fervent love for the church is that there is a correspondence between him and his church. He loves the church because he sees himself in the church. How could it be any other way? Christ is perfect in every respect and when he sees himself in his church, he cannot help but praise the church and love her.
We see this same correspondence in 2 phrases from the New Testament. On one occasion Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8 verse 12). In the Sermon on the Mount, he said to his disciples "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5 verse 14). His nature is reproduced in us. The apostle Paul tells us that the regenerating grace of Christ makes us new creatures who are made "according to the image of him who created him" (Colossians 3 verse 10) while Peter says Christians are actually "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1 verse 4). Our conformity to Christ is far from perfect now, but we are "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8 verse 29) and when Christ finally appears, "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3 verse 2).
The beloved is not content merely to refer to his bride as a lily. He proceeds to describe those around her. She was not just one lily among many lilies. Far from it! She was like a lily among thorns. The Lord Jesus says the same thing about his church. This tells us not only how he regards his people, but also how he regards those who are not part of his church. The church is as beautiful to him as a lily, but unbelievers are as thorns to him. Thorns are often used in Scripture as an emblem for the wicked. In his last words to the nation of Israel, David says:
"But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place." 2 Samuel 23 verses 6 and 7
The prophet Micah says of evil men, "The best of them is like a brier, the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge" (Micah 7 verse 4)
Ezekiel's prophecy contains similar imagery (Ezekiel 2 verse 6) and in his parable of the sower, Jesus described one kind of hearer of the Word of God in terms of seed received among thorns (Matthew 13 verse 7, 22). What does this imagery tell us about unbelievers? They are unfruitful and unprofitable to God.
This is how Christians themselves once were - thorns! But what sort of transformation has taken place! Nothing could be greater than the difference between a lily and a thorn - and that is the difference between the church and the world - a difference that brings delight to Christ.
Glorification
The final aspect of Christ's work of making his church fair is known as glorification. This takes us to that time when the Lord Jesus will come again and take his bride from this world to join him in the glories of heaven. At that point she will be free from every vestige of sin and her beauty will be incapable of improvement. She will be completely and perfectly fair.
The apostle Paul pointed the Ephesians to that day with these words: "Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5 verses 25 - 27).
Some content that it is a mistake to regard the Son of Solomon as a picture of Christ and the church. The apostle Paul apparently did not think so. As he thought about the Lord Jesus presenting his bride to himself, he seems to have deliberately chosen to echo Solomon's words: "You are all fair, my love and there is no spot in you" (chapter 4 verse 7). Some day the Lord's process of making his church fair will be complete and he will look upon her and repeat to her those very words.
The apostle John was enabled to see that grand moment when the work of redemption is finally complete and the spotless church is joined in marriage to her Lord. Speaking of the church, he says, "To her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" (Revelation 19 verse 8)
The church is not without spot or blemish in this world. She is in the process of sanctification. Some day that process will be complete. Sanctification will give way to glorification and the church will be spotless. it will all be a result of her mighty Lord bringing it about. To him belongs the praise, as Jude notes in the closing words of his epistle
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 24 and 25
CHAPTER 13 - FOR CHRIST ALONE
"A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Song of Solomon 4 verse 12 to 5 verse 1
Solomon obviously took enormous delight in the beauty of his bride, but he took even greater delight in knowing that this beautiful woman had reserved herself for him, and him alone. The images Solomon uses to describe her convey this delight. He refers to her here as "a garden enclosed", as "a spring shut up" and as "a fountain sealed". These are terms of exclusiveness. Solomon's bride did not give herself to anyone but only to him. A walled garden is one that only the owner and the gardener can enter. The waters of a spring that has been "shut up" and a fountain that has been "sealed" are not available to all, but only to the one who has placed them out of bounds.
Solomon's delight that the bride reserves herself solely for him is also conveyed by the prominence of the pronoun "my" appearing 11 times in the space of 2 verses.
As Solomon rejoiced in the singleness of the Shulamite's heart, so Christ rejoices in the devotion of his people. The church belongs exclusively to Christ. Before the word began she was given to him by God the Father. We might say that it was then that the wall was built about the church. The purpose of putting a wall around a garden is to separate it from the surrounding area. By his electing love, the Father placed a wall around the church, separating it from the world, and gave it to his Son.
In receiving this gift from the Father, the Son also received an assignment. Those who were enclosed by electing love would have to be redeemed from the horrid ruin of sin. In the fulness of time, the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world for that express purpose. Paul said Christ "gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people ..." Titus 2 verse 14. Peter strikes much the same note in these words: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." 1 Peter 2 verses 9 and 10
Here is the purpose of the plan of redemption. Here is the reason why God the Father gave his Son a people, why Christ came to this world and died for them, why they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. here is the purpose for which they are justified and sanctified, and for which they will eventually be glorified. It is all to the end that the Son might have his own special people.
The church seeks to glorify Christ alone
The church knows that she owes everything to Christ. By his death on the cross, he lifted her from the pit of sin and condemnation. The church can never forget this. "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6 verse 20
Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Those who make up the church understand this. They understand that they are part of a plan that stretches from eternity to eternity. They know that this plan called for the Lord Jesus Christ to bear their sin and that through that act they have been freed for ever from condemnation and given title to glory. They realize that Christ has purchased them to be his special people.
"I have one passion; it is Christ and Christ alone" Count Zinzendorf
The church proclaims Christ alone
Pluralism and tolerance are the watchwords of the day. All claims to truth are considered equally valid and we are told, it is the height of arrogance to suggest that one claim to truth is in any way superior to others. Many do not hesitate to affirm that there is no such thing as absolute truth (failing to see as they do so that they are themselves stating an absolute!). What is the church to do in such a climate? Is she to be content to offer the gospel as one more item on the buffet of religious ideas? The church has no choice at all about this matter. She is under orders, even in a climate that is hostile to truth, to proclaim that Christ is the only way of salvation and that he, and he alone, is Lord of all.
He alone is Saviour
Why must the church proclaim Christ as the only hope for eternal salvation? The first reason for doing so is that the Lord Jesus himself unequivocally declared this truth. On the night before he was crucified, the Lord said to his disciples, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14 verse 6
Another reason is that the apostle did so. When Peter and John were called before the authorities to explain how they had healed a lame man, Peter declared the uniqueness of Christ: "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4 verse 12
He alone is Lord
In addition to proclaiming Jesus as Saviour, the church is bound to proclaim him as Lord of all. The very essence of Christianity is bound up in the affirmation: "Jesus is Lord". No one can be a Christian who does not heartily subscribe to this statement of faith (Romans 10 verse 9). What does it mean to say that Jesus is Lord? It means we recognise him as the sovereign Ruler of all things and we submit to him as such.
How do we know Jesus is Lord? The Gospel accounts furnish us with evidence upon evidence. He commanded the winds and the waves and they obeyed. He caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk and the dead to live again. But the supreme evidence of his lordship is his own resurrection from the grave. Simon Peter hammered this truth home on the Day of Pentecost: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Acts 2 verses 32 and 36
Even with evidence for Christ's lordship on every hand, many deny it. But denying it does not change the reality. Jesus Christ is Lord whether we acknowledge him as such or not and Scripture assures us that a day is coming when all without exception will be compelled to acknowledge it. The apostle Paul declares "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2 verses 10 and 11
The church worships Christ alone
Since the church readily acknowledges that Christ alone is Lord of all, it follows that she worships none but him, and the Father he reveals. In the wilderness, immediately after he was baptized, the Lord Jesus was assaulted with 3 temptations from Satan. In the last of these temptations, Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and promised to give them to him, if only he would fall down and worship him. The Lord responded by saying emphatically "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve.'" (Matthew 4 verse 10)
Today, as then, there are many false gods. We are tempted to worship "the vain world's golden store", for covetousness, Paul tells us, is idolatry (Ephesians 5 verse 5). Some would have us bow to at the shrines of nature, humanism or evolution, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1 verse 25). Yet others seem to point us to a Christian God, but when we approach we find that he is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who reveals himself in Christ alone. Let us be clear. Only Jesus Christ reveals the true Father, for only he is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1 verse 15; see also Hebrews 1 verse 3)
The church depends on Christ alone for the present and the future
The church trusts Christ and him alone. She trusts in the redeeming work for her eternal salvation and she continues to trust him as she lives in this world. She trusts him for the strength and grace to face her trials and difficulties here, and she trusts him to remove her eventually from this sphere and take her home to herself.
Song of Solomon 8 verse 5 - Solomon and his bride are seen walking back towards the city after strolling together in a barren, wilderness area. Someone, perhaps a relative, takes note of them and exclaims: "Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" The question does not signify doubt about the bride's identity, but rather a happy recognition of what has taken place. The Shulamite maiden is now the wife of the great King Solomon. Who would ever have thought such a thing could happen. The force of these words, then, is as follows: "Can this really be the simple country maiden I know, who is walking with the king and in dependence on him?" The one who utters these words is filled with wonder over what he is seeing.
The speaker notices something in particular - namely that the bride is leaning on her beloved. Here is the key for the church as she walks through the wilderness of this world. She must lean on her beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. The word "leaning" is rich in implications. It means the church is conscious of her own weakness. She realizes that this wilderness is too much for her, that she lacks the strength, in and of herself, to cope with it. But it also means she is keenly aware that her beloved does have the strength and the wisdom that living in the wilderness demands.
The scene pictures in this verse also tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is near and can be leaned upon. There is a paradox here. In one sense, the Lord is absent from us. He is at the right hand of God making intercession for all who believe. But in another sense he is here with us - not physically but in the person of the Holy Spirit whom the Father sent to be our helper and to abide with us for ever (John 14 verses 16 to 18). It was in this way that Jesus fulfilled his promise to be with us "always" (Matthew 28 verse 20). The Spirit of Christ dwelling in the believer and the church constitutes a real presence and because the Lord Jesus is present in this way, we can indeed lean upon him.
Our verse also means that the Lord Jesus cares for us enough to let us lean on him. He sympathizes with us in this wilderness: "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4 verses 15 and 16 Whether as the church collectively, or as individual believers, we are not dependent on our own resources as we walk through this world, but rather on the resources of Christ who is near and who cares deeply for his people. The church traverses this wilderness, then with the words of Proverbs 3 verses 6 and 6 ringing in her ears:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.
The church bears fruit for Christ alone
John records Jesus' words to his disciples only hours before he was crucified "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples" (John 15 verse 8). A little later he added "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain." (John 15 verse 16)
What kind of fruit does the Christian produce? In his letter to the Galatians, Paul gives a list of 9 graces that comprise what he calls the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23)
Love is that disposition that compels us to give freely and sacrificially in the service of others. Love marks us out as the people of God. Jesus said "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13 verse 35)
Joy is that irrepressible happiness that bubbles up within us and manifests itself in our conduct even when circumstances are difficult and unpleasant. The Lord so worked this grace into Paul's life that he was able to write an epistle of joy from his prison cell. In that epistle he calls the Philippians to share his joy: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!" (Philippians 4 verse 4) In unfurling the banner of joy, Paul reveals its source - "the Lord". No matter how difficult the Christian's circumstances, he always has reason to rejoice because he always has the Lord.
Peace may be considered an offshoot of joy. It is that tranquility of mind which enables us to keep our emotional equilibrium in even the most trying circumstances of life. it also has its course in God, being "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (and which) will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4 verse 7)
Long-suffering is that grace that enables us to put up with all that is unpleasant in others, and to do so with love and patience. it is an even temper which puts up with exasperating conduct in others without flying into a rage.
Kindness means the Christian has a benign heart and a soft answer, a serene, loving and sympathizing temper. It is the absence of harshness.
Goodness is the active expression of kindness. One way in which the beloved praised his bride, was by likening her to a dove. This speaks volumes about her gentle, harmless temperament. No one is afraid of a dove! And that dovelike quality is evident in the life of the Christian.
Faithfulness means that the one in whom the Spirit of God dwells is absolutely honest and utterly dependable in all his dealings. He is unswerving in his commitments.
Gentleness or meekness means that the Christian is sensitive and not self-assertive. As one who has been mastered by God, the believer is not concerned about himself and his rights.
Self-control is that grace that enables the Christian to keep his appetites, desires and passions under control.
These godly attitudes find their expression in good works. Thus whenever the Christian does things out of a heart of love for Christ and out of concern fro the spiritual well-being of others, fruit is borne to the glory of God. The apostle Paul says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2 verse 10). Several other scriptures emphasize the importance of good works (1 Timothy 2 verse 10; 6 verse 18, 2 Timothy 3 verse 17; Titus 2 verse 7, 14, 3 verse 8; Hebrews 10 verse 24; 1 Peter 2 verse 12)
The Lord has planted the church for the express purpose that she should bring forth fruit. The Lord receives immense pleasure and delight from his garden. He loves to look upon a life that he has reclaimed from the wilderness of sin and see it yield a rich variety of fruit.
CHAPTER 14 - THE CHURCH AND THE GOSPEL
"A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." Song of Solomon 4 verses 15 and 16
"How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman." Song of Solomon 7 verse 1
The Song of Solomon contains 2 smaller "songs" from Solomon. In each he praises his bride - chapter 4 verses 1 to 15 and chapter 7 verses 1 to 9 and each is followed by the bride's response - chapter 4 verse 16 and chapter 7 verse 10. The first response was evidently spoken immediately after the bridegroom's song of praise. The second is a little different. The beloved seems to have fallen asleep shortly after praising his bride - chapter 7 verse 9 while she remains awake. As she contemplates his praise of her, she expresses her delight that she belongs to such a one and that he belongs to her - chapter 7 verse 10. When he at last awakes she urges him to retreat with her to a place where they can enjoy their love without interruption or distraction - chapter 7 verses 11 to 13.
Each aspect of the beloved's songs and the bride's response can be applied in some way to Christ's relationship to his church but 3 features seem to have special significance. The closing words of the first song - chapter 4 verse 15 and the response of the bride to this song - chapter 4 verse 16 as well as the opening words of the second song - chapter 7 verse 1.
They make reference to the church's task of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. The first of these special features, the fountain of waters, has to do with the nature of the gospel - that is, it is like refreshing water. The second, the blowing wind, has to do with the church's empowerment for the task or her effectiveness in the task, of proclaiming the gospel. The final feature, the feet, has to do with the Lord's delight in his church's proclamation.
The nature of the gospel message
Solomon ends his first song of praise by calling his bride "a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters" (chapter 4 verse 15). These words may be applied to the Lord's view of his bride, the church in the following way.
Remember the story of the woman at the well in John 4? Jesus talked to her about spiritual water that he had come to provide. He said "whoever drinks of this water (meaning the well they were at) will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." We can receive that spiritual water today if we are believers. It enters into our soul and remains there as a constant source of satisfaction and refreshment in this life and one day will finally issue into eternal life.
There was another occasion when Jesus used this same imagery. It is later in John's gospel - chapter 7. The occasion was the Feast of the Tabernacles in Jerusalem. The Jews observed 7 feasts in their calendar year and this was the most elaborate. Its purpose was to re-enact their fathers' wilderness wanderings. The people erected and occupied temporary booths during the feast. They also remembered how their fathers were provided with water in the wilderness. They had a very dramatic water pouring ceremony on each of the feast's 7 days. Every day water was drawn in a golden pitcher from the pool of Siloam and carried to the temple where it was poured out on the altar - you can imagine all the pomp and ceremony. On the seventh day there were 7 processions instead of one!
At the end of the feast Jesus suddenly cried out "if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." When we come to Jesus Christ and accept him as our Saviour we find our spiritual thirst quenched but we also become a means of quenching that thirst in others.
J C Ryle said "That almost every believer, whose life is spared after he believes, becomes a fountain of blessing and good to others, is a simple matter of fact, which needs no illustration. A truly converted man always desires the conversion of others, and labours to promote it. Even the thief on the cross, short as his life was after he repented, cared for his brother thief; and from the words he spoke have flowed 'rivers of living water' over this sinful world for more than 800 years. He alone has been a fountain of blessing."
John explains Jesus' words - they were spoken concerning the Holy Spirit whom those believing in Christ would receive. The Holy Spirit did not come in fulness upon believers until the Day of Pentecost, after Christ had returned to the Father. When he did come upon them, the words of Jesus were confirmed as those believers became zealous witnesses for Christ. All of this was a fulfilment of the prophecy we find in Christ:
"I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses." Isaiah 44 verses 3 and 4
Believers not only have spiritual life springing up within them, but they also find it flowing out to others. In each of these instances Jesus spoke of individual believers, but his words apply to the church as a whole. The church is a composite of all believers. If each believer has a well of water springing up and flowing out, it is certainly valid to say the church also is a fountain of water. Indeed, we have New Testament confirmation that the words of Solomon to his bride may be taken as the words of Christ to his church. We are told in Ephesians 2 verse 22 tht the church is a habitation of God in the Spirit. As the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, so he does also the church. Unless this were so, she would be powerless to serve her Lord.
The empowerment of the church for her task
In Solomon's first song of praise to his bride, he likens her to a beautiful garden (chapter 4 verses 12 to 15). She immediately responds to his praise with these words: " Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits."
Her response might be paraphrased as follows: "Am I truly your garden? Then I want to be the very best garden that I can be." It was to that end that she asked for both the north and south winds to blow upon her. This seems at first sight to be a puzzling request. Was it not contradictory to invoke winds from opposite directions? Would not the one cancel or negate the others. She is, of course, using the language of poetry and seen in this way, her request makes perfect sense. Both winds were necessary. The north wind swept away the storm clouds and brought cool, clear weather, while the south wind was warm and laden with moisture. if a garden was to flourish, it needed both of these influences. By calling for both winds, therefore, she was expressing her desire to flourish as a garden. : "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3 verse 8) No one becomes a Christian unless the Spirit of God works in sovereign power in his or her heart. The apostle Paul writes emphatically, "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his." (Romans 8 verses 8 and 9)
But thank God, the wind of the Spirit does not cease to blow once we have been regenerated. Taking our cue from the Shulamite, we may speak of the work of the Spirit of God in terms of both a "north wind" and a "south wind". As the former swept away the storms, so the Spirit of God is, upon Christ's people, the wind of conviction and repentance to sweep away the sin in their lives. Equally, as the warm south wind brought comfort and fruitfulness, so the Spirit of God brings comfort, encouragement and spiritual fruit into the life of the church.
It is only as the Spirit ministers to the church in both these ways that the church is truly empowered for the preaching of the gospel, If the north wind of the Spirit is not blowing, the church will compromise her witness to the gospel by a life stained with sin. if the south wind of the Spirit is not blowing the church will not demonstrate the joy and comfort of knowing Christ, nor will she produce those good works which authenticate the church as God's possession.
What else do the north and south winds accomplish? They spread abroad the fragrance of the garden! The beloved prays, "Blow upon my garden that its spices may flow out." Those who are still outside the garden, having no concept of its beauties, need to smell its spices, the rich aroma of its blossom. Here is an unmistakable picture. The fragrance of Christ is spread abroad by the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Spirit. There is no other way for those outside the church to be brought in.
If the fragrance of the gospel is to be wafted to those who do not know the Lord Jesus, both winds must blow. Our sins must be swept away and our comforts and our fruit made evident. The church has much that might make her attractive to unbelievers, but without the preaching of the gospel and the work of the Spirit, they will never know.
The beauty of the church's proclamation of the gospel
The opening words of Solomon's second song of praise, which is found in chapter 7, also compels us to think of the church and the gospel. "How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince's daughter!" (chapter 7 verse 1). This compliment may seem strange to us. We do not usually associate feet with beauty or compliment people on their sandals.
Probably, Solomon's remark should be understood with reference to the "dance of the double camp" or Mahanaim dance, mentioned in the last verse of chapter 6. If the Shulamite were performing this dance as Solomon spoke, it makes sense for Solomon to comment on her feet and shoes, and to describe her legs.
The delight of those who hear the gospel
The spiritual application of Solomon's admiration is, of course, in the feet of the gospel messenger, which in a very real sense "bring" the gospel! The prophet Isaiah introduces this idea and Paul takes it up in Romans 10 verse 15. Isaiah was enabled by the Spirit of God to peer into the future of his nation. It was a grim sight. His people were going to be torn violently from their homeland to spend 70 years in captivity in Babylon. But Isaiah's glimpse into the future did not end there. He was able to look beyond that bleak time to a glorious future. He could see his people, there in Babylon, when suddenly a messenger appears on the horizon. This is the messenger the people have been expecting. He carries the good news that they have finally been released from their captivity and can at last return to their homeland. Isaiah describes it in this way: "How beautiful upon the mounts, are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace. Who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"
It was not of course, the feet themselves that were beautiful. They would undoubtedly have been covered with dust and would have been most unsightly. But on this grand occasion they were transformed. Their natural ugliness meant nothing. They were now beautiful because they carried the messenger who carried the good news of deliverance. The prophet Nahum refers to the same event in these words: "Behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace!" Nahum 1 verse 15
Deliverance from captivity in Babylon was indeed a thrilling experience for the people of God, but it pales in comparison to another deliverance. Scripture tells us that by nature we are enslaved to Satan (Ephesians 2 verses 1 to 3) but through the gospel we are released from that bondage. With this in mind, the apostle Paul seizes upon Isaiah's words and applies them to the preaching of the gospel. He writes "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10 verse 15)
How true this is! Paul reminds the Galatians that when he brought the gospel to them, they received him "as an angel of God." So enthralled were they with the message of salvation through Christ that they were blind to his physical weakness (Galatians 4 verse 13 to 15). So it should always be. The preacher's shortcomings should be swallowed up in the glory of the message that he brings. Believers should be so carried away with the beauty of the message that the frailty of the messenger is forgotten. Oh that we have more such preaching today!
In another passage the apostle carried the imagery of the church's feet a step further. The gospel armour in which God's people are to be clad includes shoes which represent "the preparation of the gospel of peace" (Ephesians 6 verse 15). The military sandals worn by Roman soldiers had both an offensive and a defensive purpose. Because their soles were studded with sharp nails, they enabled the soldiers to traverse difficult terrain quickly and take their enemies by surprise. When the soldiers were themselves under attack their sandals kept them from slipping and failing. In like manner, the believer in Christ should be prepared to invade hostile territory with the gospel that brings peace and reconciliation between an offended God and sinful men. It is not so much the gospel that Paul likens to sandals, as our preparedness or readiness, to preach that gospel. Those who know the peace that only the gospel of Christ can give have a readiness to share that peace with others. At the same time, and by that same peace, they are enabled to stand against the onslaughts of Satan.
The delight of the Lord
We shall never truly delight in the gospel ourselves until we understand that Christ himself delights in the church's preaching of the gospel. The beloved in the Song of Solomon is a type of Christ and it is the beloved who speaks of the beauty of the Shulamite's feet. The Song makes it clear that there were others who observed her dancing and took pleasure in it (chapter 6 verse 13), but the emphasis is on the beloved's praise of her. While those who hear the good news of salvation delight in that proclamation, the Lord Jesus Christ delights in it even more.
The gospel is, after all, the work of the triune God. it is the product of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, covenanting together to provide a way for sinners to be redeemed from the ravages of sin. It is, as the apostle Paul termed it on more than one occasion, "the gospel of God" (1 Thessalonians 2 verse 2, 9, 1 Timothy 1 verse 11). This gospel called for the Second Person of the Trinity to take our humanity and to dwell among us. When the Lord Jesus Christ complied with this plan, and stepped onto the stage of human history, he came preaching the gospel (Matthew 4 verse 23; 9 verse 35; Mark 1 verse 14). He himself said in the synagogue of Nazareth:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4 verses 18 and 19
And when he finished his redeeming work and was ready to return to the Father, he gave this word of instruction to his disciples: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16 verse 15). It is this same Christ who through his inspired apostle pronounces a fearful curse upon those who dare to pervert his gospel: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1 verse 8). He jealously guards his gospel against its enemies.
In the light of all these things, there can be no doubt whatever that the Lord Jesus takes immense delight in the feet of his church - that is, in her proclamation of his glorious gospel.
The gospel preached
Christ's delight in the preached gospel is reflected in the sense of privilege displayed by the apostle Paul: "Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5 verse 20). God himself, suggests Paul, is the ultimate preacher, for it ultimately is he who calls men to repentance, faith and reconciliation. The church and its servants are merely ambassadors, carrying the message of the King into all the world,
We have, then, brought together 3 images used by the beloved in the Song of Solomon and related them to the church's work of preaching the gospel. The fountains of living water, the wind-borne spices of the garden and the feet of the beloved - all these testify to the church's privilege and responsibility to take the gospel to every creature. If we need further justification for using this imagery in this way, we have only to look at the closing verses of Psalm 147. There we find running feet, wind and water used as emblems of God's Word going forth.
"He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs very swiftly ... he sends out his word ... he causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow." Psalm 147 verses 14 and 18.
CHAPTER 15 - THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT
"Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners." Song of Solomon 6 verse 4
In his second song in praise of his bride, Solomon twice draws a remarkable analogy. She is, he declares "terrible (awesome) as an army with banners". A bride today would hardly consider this a compliment! It might, indeed, be a way to describe a particularly contentious and belligerent spouse. Yet we may be sure that the Shulamite took it as a tribute and had no doubts about what her beloved was saying.
In those days an army assembled under its various banners would have been a stately and majestic sight. By using this figure Solomon was paying the Shulamite a very high compliment indeed. Hers was such a dignified and awesome beauty that those around her were compelled to take notice of it and be impressed by it. Solomon's comparison of his bride to an army quite naturally leads the Christian to think of the church in the same terms.
The church militant
Until recent times, Christians have for centuries, delighted to think of the church in military terms. Older hymnals were well stocked with hymns calling attention to this aspect of the Christian life. Perhaps the best known of such hymns is "Onward Christian Soldiers"
Onward Christian soldiers
Marching as to war
with the cross of Jesus
Going on before!
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle
See his banner go!
Such hymns have now fallen into disfavour. Some insist that Christians should oppose anything that seems to smack of violence. Others see the Christian life as the way to secure health and wealth and because the military motif suggests hardship and sacrifice, have no place for it in their thinking.
No matter how distasteful and disconcerting we may find this military language, the fact is that it features quite prominently in the scriptures. we may summarize the biblical teaching on this matter under the following heads.
The church's spiritual warfare
The apostle Paul was keenly conscious of being engaged in spiritual warfare and he knew that what was true of him as an individual was also true of the whole church. He sets out the reality of spiritual warfare in several places. In his letter to the Ephesians, he exhorts "Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6 verses 11 and 12).
The warfare of the church stems from the fact that she has a great adversary Satan. Originally known as Lucifer, he was filed with pride and rebelled against God (Isaiah 14 verses 12 to 15). That rebellion led him to his being cast out of heaven, along with all those angels who supported him. Since then he has busied himself ceaselessly in opposing God at every turn. Because he is opposed to God he is also opposed to the people of God.
Paul's words to the Ephesians indicate something of the nature of the warfare Satan conducts against God's people. First, the devil often resorts to "wiles" in this warfare. He can prowl and roar like the lion (1 Peter 5 verse 8) but he generally prefers to rely on deception. So effective is he at this that the apostles repeatedly found it necessary to remind the churches. "Be not deceived" or "Let no one deceive you" (1 Corinthians 15 verse 33; Galatians 6 verse 7; Ephesians 5 verses 6; 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3; 1 John 3 verse 7)
When Paul writes of "principalities" and "powers", he seems to refer to the power and authority attained by those angels who joined Satan in his rebellion. His reference to the "rulers of the darkness of this age" indicates that the spiritual and moral darkness of this world must be explained in terms of the control exerted by these satanic forces. It is Satan, he says, who has blinded the minds of those who do not believe and from whom the gospel is hidden (2 Corinthians 4 verses 3 and 4)
The phrase "spiritual hosts of wickedness" emphasizes both the number and the nature of the satanic forces. A single "host" is a significant number, but these armies consist of many "hosts" and they are totally devoted to evil. John Eadie says their "appetite for evil only exceeds their capability for producing it". In addition to these details Paul tells us that Satan's hosts occupy "the heavenly places", which is his way of stressing the supernatural and superhuman nature of these evil spirits.
Later in his description of the Christian's spiritual armour, Paul refers to the "fiery darts of the wicked one" (Ephesians 6 verse 16). These may very well refer to sudden, fierce attacks of Satan. They may come in the form of blasphemous thoughts, doubts, evil imaginations that crop up suddenly in the mind and seen to stick there, and many other similar things.
Many people scoff at such details because they cannot see the hand of Satan in these things. In doing so, they succumb to the wiles of the devil He is never happier than when he is thought not to exist. But exist he does, and because he does the church in engaged in fierce warfare every day of her life in this world.
One of the primary weapons Satan wields in his warfare against the church is false teaching The apostle Paul was finely tuned to this stratagem and incessantly warned the churches regarding it. He told the Corinthians that "Satan transforms himself into an angel of light" and that his followers were similarly able to "transform themselves into ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11 verses 14 and 15). As he was taking his leave of the Ephesian elders, he warned them that "savage wolves" would come among them who would not spare the flock, but would instead speak "perverse things" (Acts 20 verses 29 and 30).
He also cautioned the Christians in Philippi against those who were "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Philippians 3 verse 18). Again and again the apostle sounded the alarm. He called young ministers, like Timothy and Titus, to be ever watchful against false teachers (1 Timothy 1 verses 3 - 7, 18 to 20; 4 verses 1 to 5; 6 verse 3 to 11; 2 Timothy 1 verse 15; 2 verse 17 - 18; 3 verses 6 to 9, 13; Titus 1 verses 10 to 16). He urged them above all things to teach and cultivate "sound doctrine" (1 Timothy 1 verse 10; 2 Timothy 4 verse 3; Titus 1 verse 9; 2 verse 1). It is important for us to realize that Paul was not alone in this concern. Peter, John, Jude and the author of Hebrews all sounded the same alarm (Hebrews 13 verse 9; 2 Peter 2: 1 to 3, 14 to 19; 1 John 4 verses 1 to 3; 2 John 7 to 11; Jude 4 verses 8 to 11).
We cannot leave the warfare that Satan wages against the church without calling attention to its focal point. There is nothing Satan hates more than the cross of Christ. That cross declares and represents truths he simply cannot tolerate. It proclaims that man is a sinner, that his sin is a very serious matter, that it deserves the condemnation of hell and that man can do nothing about it for himself. But, thank God, the cross of Christ also triumphantly announces that God has judged both sin and Satan through the shed blood of his Son and that there is, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
The cross trumpets the truths of God's holiness, man's sin and atonement through the blood of Christ - together of course, with that of Christ's victory over sin and death and the powers of darkness. Satan fiercely hates each one of these truths, let alone their cumulative effect and message. He works ceaselessly, therefore, to send into this world false teachers who are "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Philippians 3 verse 19), who corrupt mens minds from "the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11 verse 3) and who declare "another Jesus" and "a different gospel" (2 Corinthians 11 verse 4; Galatians 1 verses 6 and 7).
What are we to do? It is an intimidating thing to read about the malevolent designs of Satan and the subtlety, power and ferocity with which he attacks the church. We find ourselves wondering how the church can never hope to survive in such a war, let alone win it. But scripture holds before us great truths to encourage and comfort us, and this is certainly true of our passage in the Song of Solomon.
The church has a captain
As every army has a general, so the church also has a leader. In scripture this leader is sometimes called her "captain" and this captain is Christ himself. In Hebrews he is described as "the captain of their salvation" through whom God is "bringing many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2 verse 10). The word can also be translated "chief captain" or "author". A leader's fame is in proportion to his victories. How great will be his fame then and how great a victory it will be, when Christ leads his ransomed hosts into the city of heaven, the glorious kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world! (Matthew 25 verse 4). This captain cannot fail, for his final triumph was assured in the eternal counsels of Almighty God.
In Od Testament times, Joshua also learned that he had a captain. He thought he was the leader of the armies of Israel and so he was in a purely human sense. But as he surveyed the fortress of Jericho, which stood as a barrier to the land of promise, he suddenly saw a man "with his sword drawn in his hand" (Joshua 5 verse 13). "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" challenged Joshua sternly, ready to do battle. How unprepared he was for the reply! "As Commander (captain) of the army of the Lord I have now come" said the stranger, who went on to say, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy". Joshua did as he was told and falling on his face, worshipped him (Joshua 5 verses 14 and 15).
There can be little doubt that what Joshua experienced was a "theophany" - that is, an Old Testament appearance of God in human form - or that the one who appeared to him was Christ, the Son of God. Why did he appear? Read on into chapter 6 of Joshua and all becomes clear. The Lord went on to give Joshua full instructions for the siege and destruction of Jericho. who, then, was leading the armies of the Lord? It was not Joshua, but Christ.
What was true then is doubly true today. We may feel we battle against unequal odds, but the one who leads the church in its warfare is Christ, the Son of God, to whom all power has been given in heaven and on earth.
The church has been given a banner
The church of Jesus Christ is like an army with banners. The army of the nation of Israel marched under several banners (Numbers 2 verses 1 to 31; 10 verses 14 to 28)
which were a means of rallying them to the cause and organizing them for battle. The church's "banners" are in fact but one, the plural implying the excellence of that single ensign. The following words from a psalm of David suggest the nature of that banner: "You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth" (Psalm 60 verse 4).
David may have been referring to his own leadership of Israel. His reign was indeed a rallying point, a unifying and energizing force for the nation. Furthermore, as David grew in strength and influence he became a source of terror to all the enemies of Israel. However, the psalm expressly tells us that the banner is one of truth. In other words, in the gospel of Jesus Christ the church has a far greater banner than David was to Israel, and it is of the gospel that the psalm speaks prophetically. That gospel is the truth of God and it displays God's faithfulness to his truth. It unifies and energizes the church and yes, it disconcerts and dismays those who are opposed to Christ. The church marches under that banner as the proclaims the good news of salvation through her crucified Redeemer.
The Church has been given armour
In addition to having a captain and a
banner, the church has been given armour that protects her from Satan and the
forces of wickedness. The apostle Paul details this armour in Ephesians 6
verses 10 to 17. He calls it the armour of God (Ephesians 6 verse 11). It is
God who provides it. If the church were to fight in her own strength, she would
most certainly be mortally wounded, but in God’s armour she succeeds in her
battle and is safe. Some of the armour is defensive in nature.
The girdle of truth
Before she can ever hope to resist Satan,
the church must be settled in her convictions. She must rest in confidence that
she has the truth that was “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
There is no hope for success in spiritual warfare if the church thinks that
truth is never certain but ever changing.
The breastplate of righteousness
The central tenet of the gospel is this:
guilty sinners can stand in the presence of the holy God by being clothed in
the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ the imputed righteousness of
Christ gives rise to an imparted righteousness by which I mean that God’s
people, as they are sanctified by the Spirit of God, practise righteousness.
One of the ways Satan attacks the church is by sowing seeds of doubt Those who
make up the church can withstand the onslaught of doubt by pointing to the
perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace
The shoes, as we noted in the previous
chapter, call attention to firmness of footing and readiness to move forward.
The peace created by the gospel – peace with God, peace with others and peace
within – enables the people of God to stand against the anxieties Satan hurls
in their path. That same peace gives the children of God an eagerness to share
the gospel with others.
The shield of faith
This shield is given by God to enable his
people to quench Satan’s “fiery darts”. Those darts, as we have already seen, refer
to any sudden attack from Satan that causes wicked, ungodly thoughts or fears
to crop up in the mind and stick there. The Christian wields the shield of
faith, when he counters such attacks, pointing Satan to the complete adequacy
of the Lord Jesus Christ and relying on the revealed character of God and the
promises of God.
The helmet of salvation
In his first letter to the Thessalonians,
the apostle Paul designates this helmet as “the hope of salvation” (1
Thessalonians 5 verse 8). Satan loves to discourage the church by suggesting
that she is engaged in a futile enterprise. Believers take up the helmet of
salvation when they fortify their minds with the promises of God regarding the
future. Those promises assure us that the Lord Jesus Christ will gather every
last one of his elect, that he will return to take his people home and that
they will then be finally and completely vindicated.
The Church has been given a weapon
After listing the defensive parts of the
armour, Paul proceeds to call attention to the weapon the church is given –
namely, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians verse 17). The word of God is, for the
church, a weapon both of defence and offence. By relying on its teachings, she
can fend off Satan’s attacks. By wielding it in proclamation , she can put him
and his forces to flight.
The classic example of this is, of course,
Satan’s temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness. Three times
Satan tempted Jesus, and each time our Lord responded by saying, “it is written
...” (Matthew 4 verses 4, 7 and 10). The writings to which he was referring
were, of course, the scriptures, which he proceeded to quote on each occasion.
The account closes by saying “Then the devil left him ...” (Matthew 4 verse
11). If we will follow the Lord’s example we may expect the same result.
The word of God is a very powerful and
potent weapon. The author of Hebrews describes it in these terms: “For the word
of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing
even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4 verse 12). As the church employs
this powerful weapon, she will see Satan’s “strongholds”, his fortifications,
pulled down. All the arguments Satan sows in the minds of sinners, arguments
they use to exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, will be cast down.
Through the power of the word of God, the church can expect to see such sinners
captured and brought into obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10 verse 4 and 5).
The church has been given the privilege of
prayer
It is interesting that Paul concludes his
description of the Christian’s armour by aging his readers to pray “always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6 verse 18). Some have
wondered why Paul did not include prayer a one of the items in the Christian’s
armoury. Is this not a serious oversight? There is a perfectly good reason why
he did not do so. He wanted to emphasize that the whole armour is to be taken
up and employed in a prayerful manner. Every single piece of armour and every
weapon is to be polished or honed with prayer.
When Paul speaks of prayer, he is not
talking about he casual, nonchalant muttering of words. Her calling for prayer
that is sincere and fervent. One cannot be casual about warfare!
Warfare-praying has certain dimensions to it. It first requires us to use “all prayer
– that is, every form of prayer. Prayers of thanksgiving, supplication,
petition and intercession all play a vital role in our combat against Satan, as
do public and private prayer. The apostle especially calls for supplication” as
the key form of praying. We cannot succeed in our warfare unless we beseech God
to supply the strength and resolve that e so greatly need.
Secondly, this praying is to be “always”.
We are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17). This cannot mean
that Christians are to do nothing else but pray. That is impossible, for scripture clearly
assigns other responsibilities to us as well. Ut whatever we do is to be done
in an attitude of prayer and with a readiness to resort to prayer.
All of this, moreover, is to be “in the
Spirit”. We are to recognize our helplessness and weakness apart from God and
depend on the Spirit to give us the spirit of prayer – that is, to help us to
formulate our petitions and to offer them in faith, and to give us the warmth
and fervency that effective prayer requires.
How the teaching of the apostle challenges
and rebukes us! Most Christians have much to lament here, and much to learn. We
are engaged in a most fearful warfare against a dreadful adversary, but our raying
is often spasmodic, half-hearted and haphazard. Fortunately we are also assured
that our God occupies a throne of grace and that through prayer we can freely
approach that throne to “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”
(Hebrews 4 verse 16).
From time to time w hear accounts of
individuals living as paupers while they have a fortune laid aside. We shake
our heads in wonderment at such accounts. But many Christians are doing
something very similar in the spiritual realm when they fail to draw upon
Christ’s riches at the throne of grace, through the privilege of prayer. The
church has always made her greatest advances when she most vigorously gave
herself to prayer. Satan is not impressed with our personalities and our
attempts to attract people by offering them a range of church activities. But
when the army of Christ’s church prays, the earth trembles beneath its tread
and Satan flees.
The church has been given a promise
As we looked at the shield of faith and the
helmet of salvation, we noticed how important it is for the church to rely on
the promises of God. There are indeed many precious and wonderful promises upon
which she may draw in her combat with satanic forces, but perhaps none is more
needed that the promise which the Lord Jesus gave to his disciples at Caesarea
Philippi. After Simon Peter affirmed that he, Jesus, was indeed the Son of the
living God, the Lord said, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16 verse 18).
Satan
sends out all kinds of schemes and designs, they stream outwards, as it were,
through the gates of hell. These schemes are so diabolically deceitful and evil
that it often seems that they will succeed and the church will fail. But the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the foundation of the church, has guaranteed that
they wild not succeed. No matter what plans the devil hatches and sends out
through the gates of hell, the church will prevail. Secure in that promise, the
church can continue to march under the banner of her Lord and fight Satan
effectively. As she does so, she is lovely to her Lord, an army with banners;
and she is terrifying to Satan.
CHAPTER 16 - CHRIST'S LOVE FULFILLED
"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame." Song of Solomon 8 verse 6
It is difficult to determine at what point in the Song the wedding of Solomon and the Shulamite takes place. Some put is as early as chapter 3 verses 6 to 11. Others contend that this is only the Shulamite dreaming of their forthcoming wedding and that the happy couple are finally joined together in the passage which runs from chapter 7 verse 1 to 8 verse 7, and to which we now turn. Whatever view one takes on this matter, it is evident that the emphasis in these verses is on the fulfilment, or consummation, of the love of the beloved and the bride.
Expressions of fulfilment
This section of the Song overflows with pictures and expressions of fulfilment, provided both by Solomon and by his bride.
Solomon
One expression of fulfilment is found in the following words from the lips of Solomon: "I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof." (chapter 7 verse 8) Solomon has just described the beauty of his bride. he has likened her stature to a palm tree and her breasts to clusters of grapes (verse 7). In announcing his intention to "go up to the palm tree" and "take hold of the boughs", Solomon is proclaiming his desire to engage in love-making with his wife. This is the language of physical intimacy.
The Shulamite
The emphasis on consummation continues when the Shulamite refers to the mandrakes emitting their fragrance (verse 13). The mandrake was a plant with purple flowers and a tomato-like fruit that was orange in colour. The ancients considered it to be an aphrodisiac (Genesis 30 verses 14 to 16). The Shulamite also makes mention of the "pleasant fruits" that were at their gates, fruits that she had "laid up" for her beloved - verse 13. She has reserved sexual intimacy for her husband and the time has now come for her to share herself with him.
The Shulamite continues to use the language of intimacy saying "His left hand should be under my head and his right hand should embrace me." (chapter 8 verse 3). She charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to disturb their lovemaking is over (verse 4). The emphasis on the consummation of their love comes to an end with the bride speaking to her beloved about the strength of love: "love is strong as death ... many water cannot quench love neither can the floods drown it." (chapter 8 verses 6 and 7)
A future consummation
What possible relevance could this emphasis on physical intimacy and fulfilment have to the Lord Jesus Christ and his church? The answer is that the bible speaks of a day of spiritual consummation and heavenly fulfilment in Christ's relationship with his church. This is the day to which all things have been pointing and tending from eternity past.
Just as both Solomon and the Shulamite eagerly anticipated the consummation of their relationship, so Christ and his church look forward to the consummation of theirs. That will be the day when the church will finally enter his presence to receive the end of her salvation and he will receive her as his bride.
In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul refers to this consummation as an inheritance. His words reveal, in fact, a twofold inheritance. First there is the inheritance of the saints, and second the inheritance of Christ. The word "inheritance appears 3 times in Ephesians 1 verses 1 to 18. In verse 11 the apostle says, "We have obtained an inheritance." In verse 14 he refers to the Holy Spirit as "the guarantee of our inheritance". In verse 18 the phrase "his inheritance in the saints" appears.
Scholars are divided on the first and last of these phrases. Some think they refer to the inheritance the church will receive, while others understand them to refer to the church as the inheritance Christ receives. No matter how we interpret these 2 expressions, it is quite evident that Paul had both the church's inheritance and Christ's inheritance in mind. Both aspects are indicated by the apostle in verse 14, the former by the words "our inheritance" and the latter by the phrase "the redemption of the purchased possession."
The word "possession" takes us back to those Old Testament passages that teach that Israel was God's possession or heritage (Exodus 19 verse 15; Deuteronomy 7 verse 6, 14 verse 2; 26 verse 18; Isaiah 43 verses 20 and 21; Ezekiel 37 verse 23; Malachi 3 verse 17). These scriptures undergird Paul's claim that the church with both her Jewish and Gentile members, is the true possession or heritage of God. Other New Testament writers affirm the same truth by calling those who make up the church God's "own special people" (Titus 2 verse 14; 1 Peter 2 verse 9) We can legitimately speak, then of both the church and Christ as receiving the inheritance.
The inheritance of the church
In this world the church receives, in all their fulness, the spiritual blessings that God has bestowed upon her (Ephesians 1 verse 3). Yet a great fulness is in store. In the life to come, she will receive the ultimate fruition of her faith, and will do so amidst the glories of heaven.
The apostle Peter offers praise to God for this inheritance in these words: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1 verse 3s to 5)
These verses brim with truths that clamour for attention. First, they contain a description of the inheritance that awaits the church. it is incorruptible, undefiled and unfading.
The word "incorruptible" means it is incapable of perishing. it is indestructible. This world is passing away (1 John 2 verse 17), but the church's inheritance will endure for ever.
The inheritance is also "undefiled". Inheritances in this world are often defiled. The nation of Israel received the land of Canaan, but it was a defiled inheritance. The Canaanites had defiled it with their iniquity and Israel herself defiled it with idolatry. This whole world bears the taint of sin, and the stench of sin is everywhere apparent. But the inheritance of the church will never be spoiled or polluted. It will be for ever free from the blemish of sin.
It is finally, an unfading inheritance. We know what it is for something to grow old even though it endures. Our bodies grow old and weaken even though they are still alive. Buildings deteriorate while they are still standing. But the inheritance awaiting the church will never fade or tarnish. It will not only endure for ever, but will do so without diminishing or deteriorating. 10 million years in glory will not lessen the glory.
Another element of Peter's statement that cries out for attention is the dual "keeping" to which he refers. He tells us that the inheritance is "reserved in heaven" for those who "are kept by the power of God through faith" (1 Peter 1 verses 4 and 5). In other words, he says that the inheritance is kept for believers, and that they are kept for it.
This removes all uncertainty about the fact that the church will receive her inheritance. The inheritance itself cannot be destroyed, nor can those for whom it is prepared. It should not escape our notice that God's keeping of his people is "through faith". The way God keeps his people is by continuing to kindle faith within, so that they continue to believe in him, love him and serve him.
And of course, all of this flows from the grace of God. The church does not receive this inheritance because of any merit or work of her own. God begets us to this inheritance. He quickens us while we are in our sins and plants "a living hope" in us and he does so through the redeeming work of his Son, Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1 verse 3). Peter's brief review of this inheritance is only a sample of what scripture has to say about it. There is much more.
The apostle Paul offers insight into the day on which the church will receive this inheritance. On that day the Lord Jesus Christ will return from heaven to raise the bodies of all his people who have died and to translate instantaneously those of his people who are still alive (1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13 to 18). The coming of Christ for his bride is also anticipated prophetically in Psalm 45. There we find the bridegroom has gone away to his palace to prepare for his wedding day. The bride is at home doing the same and also awaiting her beloved's return. As she waits she passes the time by rehearsing his many delightful qualities (Psalm 45 verses 2 to 9). At long last the wait is over. The king leaves his ivory palaces (Psalm 45 verse 8) and makes his way to where his bride is waiting. Her attendants rush out to meet him and excitedly announce that she is ready. "The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace" (Psalm 45 verse 13). The bride was not in the palace but at her own home and the king came to her from his palace. The church, which is pictured here, does not wait for her Lord in a palace but rather in this dark world.
The attendants proceed to assure the king that his bride is fully prepared for his arrival, that she has attired herself in clothing "woven with gold" and that she will soon be presented to him in "robes of many colours" (Psalm 45 verses 13 and 14).
When the Lord comes to claim his bride he will find her arrayed in the clothing that he himself provided for her, the garment of his perfect righteousness. And he will also find that she has been prepared by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit so that she has, in addition to the garment of perfect righteousness, an inner beauty about her. That moment of meeting will be followed by the procession back to the king's palace and to the marriage feast. it will indeed by a time of "gladness and rejoicing."
In the book of Revelation the apostle John relates what he had heard spoken by "a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven." The words are amazingly similar to those in Psalm 45. That voice said "Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints (Revelation 19 verses 7 and 8). Then John heard a voice from the throne of heaven say, "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" (Revelation 19 verse 9).
There is another aspect to this word. In addition to the saints' inheritance there is also Christ's inheritance.
The fulfilment of Christ's love for the church
The terms in which Paul refers to the future inheritance have been the subject of a significant debate. Some think the apostle's phrase "We have obtained an inheritance" (Ephesians 1 verse 11) should be translated, "We were made a heritage". if this were the case, the apostle would not be calling attention to what the church will inherit but rather to what Christ himself will inherit.
The phrase can be translated either way, and we cannot determine which emphasis Paul had in mind with that particular phrase. The same is true of the expression Paul uses in verse 18: "his inheritance in the saints." John Stott explains: "The Greek expression, like the English, could mean either God's inheritance or ours, that is, either the inheritance he receives or the inheritance he bestows."
Having said that, Stott proceeds to choose the latter. He writes "But the parallel passage in Colossians 1 verse 12 strongly suggests the other interpretation here, namely that "God's inheritance" refers to what he will give us." But even if we take each usage of the word "inheritance" in Ephesians 1 to refer to the inheritance the church will eventually receive, there is in that same passage one phrase that clearly indicates that Christ also receives an inheritance - that is, the church herself. In Ephesians 1 verse 14 the apostle speaks of "the redemption of the purchased possession."
Several scriptures affirm that the church is already Christ's inheritance. The people of God in the Old Testament are considered to be his special possession (Exodus 19 verse 5; 23 verse 22; Deuteronomy 7 verse 6; 14 verse 2; 26 verse 18; Isaiah 43 verses 20 and 21; Ezekiel 37 verse 23, Malachi 3 verse 17). The new Testament writers affirm the same by calling those who make up the church God's own special people (Titus 2 verse 14; 1 Peter 2 verse 9). But while the church is already Christ's prized possession, she will be even more so when he receives her unto himself. To understand and appreciate what it means for Christ to receive the church as his inheritance we have to follow Paul as he looks at the glorious panorama of the plan of redemption.
It began in eternity past. That is where the church was born. There, before ever the world was created, God the Father gave to God the Son the church to be his bride. The apostle Paul says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." (Ephesians 1 verses 3 to 5)
In receiving this gift from his Father, the Son agreed to do something - namely to redeem her. The church he was to receive from the Father would consist of individuals who were sinners by nature and the Lord Jesus Christ who is holy and perfect, could not take a bride besmirched and stained by sin. What was necessary for Christ to redeem his church, so that he could take her as his bride? The apostle gives us the answer. he tells us that in Christ "We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1 verse 7)
It was by shedding his blood on the cross that the Lord Jesus redeemed his church from her sin. He took her place and received the penalty for her sin that God's justice demanded. In taking that penalty, he exhausted the wrath of God against her, so that there is now no penalty left for her to pay. Paul celebrates this glorious deed by saying, "Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it" (Ephesians 5 verse 25).
All of this was to be undertaken with one grand moment in mind - that moment in which Christ will present the church to himself as "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5 verse 27) At that moment the plan of redemption will reach its fulfilment. That plan, contrived so long ago and executed over such a long period of time, will at last be consummated.
This glorious consummation inevitably raises the question: what will it mean for us? Scripture would have us also think of what it will mean for Christ.
The satisfaction we experience in our daily lives over achieving a planned goal can only be the very faintest indication of the satisfaction the triune God will know in seeing the fulfilment of the greatest of all plans. Christ will receive the bride that he loved from eternity and purchased in history. The bride given to him by the Father, and called to him by the Holy Spirit, will then be his, and his for ever. And he will be absolutely delighted with her.
As we look at this world, and at the church limping along in this world, we might fear that God's plan to give his Son a people is dangling precariously by a tattered thread. That is what Satan would have us to believe, but it is not so. God's plan will not fail. When the Lord Jesus finally takes to himself the people the Father gave him, not one will be missing. The bride will be complete. And she will not disappoint Christ. The Lord will not receive a bride spattered with the mud of iniquity and dressed in the tattered rags of sin. The plan of redemption will not produce a deficient church and a dejected Christ. It will rather yield to our Lord a complete bride who is perfectly fair. And the one who loved her, with a love surpassing comprehension, will be ecstatic over her.
CHAPTER 17 - LONGING FOR DAY BREAK
"Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away" Song of Solomon 2 verse 17; 4 verse 6
The Shulamite first uses these words after she and her beloved had been separated (chapter 2 verse 17). That agonizing separation finally came to an end when he suddenly came to her again. As she mused on that visit, the bride realized how much like a gazelle her beloved had been in bringing that separation to an end. The gazelle is a very speedy animal with great leaping ability and her beloved, in gazelle-like fashion, had come to her as quickly as possible and had leaped over difficult circumstances and formidable obstacles to do so.
As she reflected on this experience she realized there would be other periods of separation, periods in which she would again feel the shadows of sadness steal over her. So she pleads with her beloved to visit her as frequently as possible until that day came when they would never have to be separated again.
Look at the words of her petition in verse 17, where she makes reference to the mountains of Bether. The word "Bether" signifies division or separation.
"So long as these mountains divide (between) me and thee ... be not a stranger, but swiftly, easily and kindly ... come thou to me, and comfort me with frequent love-visits, until that time come, that thou take me to thee, to enjoy thee fully and immediately.
The beloved himself also uses this statement in his song of praise to the Shulamite. He pledges to busy himself gathering spices to heap upon his bride "until the day breaks and the shadows flee" (chapter 4 verse 6). Christians surely cannot read these words without thinking of 3 glorious daybreaks.
The day of Christ's first coming
Scripture often speaks of Christ's first coming to this earth as the breaking of day. The prophets spoke of it in this way. Isaiah pictured his people as being in a state of "trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish" (Isaiah 8 verse 22). But that was not the end of the story. Gloom would give way to glorious light:
"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Isaiah 9 verse 2
Through the prophet Malachi, God delivered this glowing message to the believers of that day:
"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall." Malachi 4 verse 2
Those prophecies were fulfilled when Jesus came. A short time before he was born Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was shown by the Spirit of God that his son would be the forerunner of the Messiah (Luke 1 verse 76). This caused Zacharias to glorify the mercy of God in the following terms.
"Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1 verses 78 and 79
Zacharias was asserting that the coming of the Messiah would dispel darkness and inaugurate a new day.
The day of salvation
Scripture also speaks of the salvation of sinners as the dawning of a new day. We have previously seen the bible equating sin with darkness. When the sinner is converted that darkness is dispelled.
When Paul stood before Agrippa, he related how the risen Lord had commanded him to take the gospel to the Gentiles. In those words, the Lord equated salvation with the dissipation of darkness. He was calling Paul to a ministry that was "to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins" (Acts 26 verse 18).
Writing to the Colossians, Paul thanked God for salvation and described it as deliverance from "the power of darkness" (Colossians 1 verse13). How does this deliverance come about? Paul puts it like this: "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4 verse 6)
We are delivered from darkness when God causes the light of knowledge to shine in our hearts. We are saved as a result of our minds being enlightened. This is the gift of faith. We are first made aware of God and what he is like. We see that he is the Creator of all things and that he is also the Judge before whom we must stand. We are made to see that he is a holy God who has declared that nothing sinful will ever enter heaven. We further see that we cannot stand before such a holy God, that we have broken his commands, and justly stand under his condemnation, that we have absolutely nothing to offer God and that we can do nothing to commend ourselves to him. All of this delivers a devastating and shattering blow. It drives us to deep, dark despair and, in so doing, makes us ready to receive the glorious news of the gospel.
Our minds are further enlightened to understand the truth about Jesus Christ. We go beyond the mere facts about Jesus to understand that he is the Second Person of the Trinity, who took our humanity that he might render to God the righteous obedience that God demands. He took our humanity also that, in our place, he might suffer God's judgement on our sin. We are enabled to see that because Christ took the penalty for our sin we can receive the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus. Our understanding of the grace of God in Christ leads us to renounce our sin and cast ourselves in faith upon the Saviour and his atoning work.
In addition to having our minds enlightened about these matters, we find our hearts are moved. We find ourselves agreeing with and approving of God's plan of salvation. We begin to take God's side in the matter of sin. We begin to justify God instead of ourselves. We count ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ (Romans 6 verse 11). The darkness of sin, the darkness of guilt and the darkness of fear of judgement relinquish their grip and the sun of salvation rises in our hearts. The day breaks and the shadows flee away.
The eternal day
While the imagery of the shadows fleeing and the day breaking may rightly cause us to think about the coming of the Lord to this earth, and the coming of salvation to the individual, the primary reference is to the dawning of the eternal day. Then all shadows will completely and permanently flee away. The prophet Zechariah looks forward to that day with these words:
"But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." Zechariah 14 verse 7
This verse looks forward to this whole age in which we are now living, the age which we might refer to as the gospel age. It tells us that this age is one in which it will be "neither day nor night".
"We are between hope and fear, not knowing what to make of things." Matthew Henry
This is not entirely an age of light. There is much darkness in this world of ours, darkness that makes our hearts ache and causes us to groan and sigh. Homes fall apart, and we mourn the darkness of life. Churches grope and stumble along, and we groan over the darkness of life. Wars break out, and we sigh over the darkness of life. Millions of babies in the womb are casually discarded every year and we despair over the darkness of life. Drugs, AIDS, pornography, crime and political corruption scourge mankind, and we sign over the darkness.
Yet it is not entirely an age of darkness, because in the midst of darkness we have bright gleams of marvellous light to delight and warm us. We marry the person we love and we laugh together enjoying the light of life. Children come into our lives and we rejoice over the light of life. True friends come across our path and we realize the light of life is shining upon us. Most of us enjoy good health for many years and that is all part of the light of life.
But we have even greater light than these things. Jesus said "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8 verse 12). We have the light of God's presence and the light of his promises. It is, therefore, neither an age of complete light nor one of complete darkness. It is an age of twilight.
Thank God, this mixed age will some day come to an end. Zechariah refers to this as "evening time". It will be evening time as far as this twilight age is concerned. But it will be dawn as far as the eternal day is concerned. And when the evening of this age comes and the new age dawns, "It will be light."
This takes us to the very end of the bible. There we find these blessed words: "There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 22 verse 45). What is this light? The answer is found in the previous chapter "The glory of God illuminated it and the Lamb is its light" (Revelation 21 verse 23).
There will be no night in heaven, no darkness at all. The shadows of sin and death will all be gloriously removed. There will be no cemeteries in heaven. No funerals, obituary columns or undertakers will be there. There will be no more crying, no more separation and no more sorrow there. But best of all, the church's beloved will be there, resplendent in glory and beautiful as the dawn and in his light we shall see light.
On that day these words from the prophet Zechariah will be gloriously fulfilled:
"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be." Zechariah 14 verse 8
There will be no summer to dry up the river of life or winter to freeze it over. The life God's people will enjoy on that day will be perfect and permanent, and the knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2 verse 14)
Until then
Heed the Word
"If you had been writing this love poem, how would you have ended it?" Very probably with an idyllic picture of the 2 lovers together in perfect union, bathing in each others affection. But the Holy Spirit thought differently. The closing picture is one of separation: The king has gone away and the bride, filled with longing, cannot wait for him to reappear. The last recorded words of the bridge express her deepest wish that the king should make haste to return. The parallel between the end of the Song and the close of the book of Revelation is obvious. The heart of the loving believer cries to his absent Lord, "Come, Lord Jesus." And we shall not be disappointed. Throughout his absence we have in our hands his written promise: "Surely I come quickly!" (Revelation 22 verse 20)
The book that contains that written promise is our light in this dark world until the dawning of the eternal day. The apostle Peter calls attention to the light of God's word by saying, "We also have the prophetic word made more sure (or confirmed) which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart" (2 Peter 1 verse 19).
David shared this assessment of the Word of God. He writes, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119 verse 105). And Solomon add, "For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light" (Proverbs 6 verse 23).
Marvellous as it is to have this light shining in this dark world, it will be of no avail to us, if we refuse to follow Peter's admonition to "Take heed". Many refuse to do so. The world is a murky, dingy place. The darkness of sin abounds on every hand. One would think a bright ray of light would be welcomed but it is not. Scripture tells us that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil" (John 3 verse 19).
Many blame the light of the word of God rather than the sin it exposes.
Even though God's people love and embrace the light of God's word, they too can refuse to take heed to it at various points. When they do, the dinginess of the world filters in and deprives them of the peace and joy that are rightfully theirs.
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